TENET: Receives Okay To Purchase Hollywood Facility

      California Attorney General Dan Lungren Friday approved the sale of Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center to Tenet Healthcare Corp., a deal worth $86.4 million. The Los Angeles Times reports that the sale is "one of the largest and most hotly contested conversions of a nonprofit hospital in the region's history," with "consumer advocates, community groups and the Catholic Church" opposed to the deal. Lungren's approval directs "proceeds from the sale and the hospital's existing assets," worth $272 million, to a charitable foundation focusing on needs in the community. In a report released to the public, Lungren said that the conversion "met legal muster" while increasing "'existing health care benefits' in the greater Hollywood community." However, critics of the deal complained "they weren't allowed enough input," and objected to the fact that "the new deal spread some community benefits out to a 10-mile radius, while the proposal had defined the service area as a 5-mile radius" (5/16).

Praise And Potential
     Neil Sorrentino, CEO for Tenet's Southern California region, noted that he was "pleased" with Lungren's decision. "Under the new legislation governing this transaction, the community has substantial opportunity to contribute valuable input that ensures that the transaction is in the best interests of the community," he said. Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian CEO Sylvester Graff noted that the deal would advance his hospital's "objective" of becoming a "vital community resource" while gaining double the financial support in funding health care needs for the poor. "The community will benefit tremendously from the Attorney General's decision," he said (release, 5/15).