St. Francis Medical Center (Lynwood)

St. Francis Medical Center is a for-profit hospital in Lynwood, California, United States, owned by Prime Healthcare Services.[1]

St. Francis Medical Center
Prime Healthcare Services[1]
Geography
LocationLynwood, California, United States
Coordinates33.9299°N 118.2033°W / 33.9299; -118.2033
Organization
Care systemPrivate
TypeCommunity
Affiliated universityNone
Services
Emergency departmentLevel II trauma center
Beds384[2]
History
Opened1945
Links
Websitestfrancismedicalcenter.com
ListsHospitals in California

History

The hospital was founded in 1945 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity and in 1981 acquired by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.[3][4]

In January 1996, the hospital's emergency department was designated a level II trauma center.[5]

After the August 2007 closure of the troubled nearby public hospital, Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital (King-Harbor), St. Francis' proximity caused it to receive the greater number of former patients. The hospital has since expanded its emergency department by 14 beds and seen an increase in patients to 180 per day (from 155), with the intensive care unit seeing an average rise from 26 patients to 33. As King-Harbor was long a major hospital for the city's sickest and poorest residents, the increase in uninsured and under-insured patients has put stress on the finances of the facility.[6][7]

As the hospital continued to lose money, the California Medical Association and the California Nurses Association supported Daughters of Charity Health System selling the facility to Prime Healthcare Services, though Service Employees International Union opposed the sale. Prime Healthcare backed away from sale based on the terms set by Attorney General Kamala Harris.

On December 3, 2015, Harris conditionally approved transferring the hospital property to BlueMountain Capital, which promised $250 million in capital improvements.[2] Daughters of Charity Health System became Verity Health System.

Verity Health System filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018. In 2019, Verity agreed to sell St. Francis to KPC Group in Riverside for $420 million, but the deal was not completed.

On April 9, 2020, Verity announced the sale of St. Francis to Prime Healthcare Services for over $350 million; Prime committed to investing $47 million in capital improvements, the deal was completed in August 2020.[8]

Description

As of 2015, St. Francis has 384 beds, 375 doctors, and about 20,000 patients a year.[2]

References
  1. Prime Healthcare (2020-08-14). "Prime Healthcare Successfully Completes Historic Acquisition of St. Francis Medical Center" (Press release). GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  2. Adler, Arnold (December 31, 2015). "2015: Homelessness, health care, drought top year's stories". Wave Newspapers. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  3. "Facts about St. Francis Medical Center". Archived from the original on September 26, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
  4. "History of St. Francis Medical Center". Archived from the original on September 26, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
  5. "Trauma Centers in California" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-04-15. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
  6. Steinhauser, Jennifer (June 5, 2008). "A City Where Hospitals Are as Ill as the Patients". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  7. Karlamangla, Soumya (September 27, 2018). "City of Lynwood moves to buy St. Francis hospital". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  8. "Prime Healthcare to Acquire Verity Health System's St. Francis Medical Center". AP NEWS. 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
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