Stanislaus County Looks To Sell Psychiatric Hospital
Stanislaus County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to sell the county-run Stanislaus Behavioral Health Center to Tenet Healthcare, the Modesto Bee reports.
County supervisors said the sale is intended to keep the facility from losing $5 million to $6 million annually in Medi-Cal and Medicare reimbursements for not complying with federal regulations.
Federal rules require all non-management hospital employees to be employed by the parent organization. Medical records and fiscal operations also must be integrated, according to the regulations.
The hospital is operated under a contract by Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, but county health workers continue to manage the facility. Federal officials on a temporary basis have continued to pay reimbursements to the county despite its failure to comply with the new rules.
Mike King, chief operations officer of Tenet-owned DMC, said Tenet plans to contract with Horizon Health to manage the mental health hospital.
Officials said the deal would not impact mental health patients who obtain services from the hospital.
The county legally is required to consider all proposals before the sale is complete. Officials until June 26 will review proposals and recommend a proposal on July 10 to the supervisors (Carlson, Modesto Bee, 4/25).