Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Prime rejects Daughters of Charity Hospital deal, now what?


Health Care Dive/Katie Bow Williams,3/10/15. "Prime passes on Daughters of Charity deal."

Image result for Seton, Daly City picture
Four regional hospitals in jeopardy-- at risk, only our lives.
"Daughters of Charity Health System revealed on Tuesday that Prime Healthcare Services has decided to reject its $843-million proposed deal to purchase the struggling system.

"Prime contends that the conditions placed on the sale by the attorney general justify their decision not to move forward and will have negative repercussions for its future transactions elsewhere in the United States," said Robert Issai, president and CEO of Daughters of Charity.

Daughters of Charity will almost certainly file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in light of the failure of the deal, according to The San Jose Mercury News.  Read article.

Reference -  Conditions of Daughters of Charity Health System sale to Prime Healthcare Services approval, set by the State of California, here.

Related article San Jose Mercury News/California/Associated Press, 3/10/15.  "Prime Healthcare rejects deal to purchase 6 hospitals."  " .... "The Daughters of Charity Health System hospitals are struggling financially, and Prime Healthcare Services had agreed to keep them operating at least five years. Attorney General Kamala Harris last month imposed conditions that ultimately unraveled the deal. She wanted Prime to run the hospitals for as long as 10 years.  .... The six hospitals are O'Connor Hospital in San Jose, Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Seton Coastside in Moss Beach, St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and St. Vincent's Medical Center in Los Angeles.  Read more.   Related - Fix Pacifica reprint articles, search: Seton.  Note:  "Top 5 best hospitals" photograph/graphic from Seton Medical Center.

Updated articleThe Daily Journal (San Mateo County), Bill Silverfarb, 3/11/15. "Seton deal falls through: Daughters of Charity scrambling to find new buyer for its six hospitals." ".... "Santa Clara County has agreed to purchase O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and Saint Louise in Gilroy and a nonprofit has its eyes on purchasing two of the hospitals in the Los Angeles area, according to the SEIU. .... It is unlikely another company would accept the same terms and conditions that Harris placed on the Prime deal, said San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley, who represents coastside residents. The county has also been subsidizing Seton’s services in the area with $1.2 million monthly payments, Horsley said. Losing skilled-nursing beds and emergency services will hurt Medi-Cal patients the most, he said." 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

11 comments:

420 Surfer said...

That sucks! Where will the peoples go when they need to go see the doctor?

Anonymous said...

And in a true emergency where will the ambulance take you? Where's the closest non-Kaiser hospital? St. Luke's? SFGH? UCSF? Adds 15 minutes or more to the trip. Maybe AG Harris should split the difference with Prime.

Anonymous said...

Mills Peninsula? Whichever is the nearest, it'll take a whole lot longer than getting to Seton.

Anonymous said...

Actually most trauma victims go to San Francisco General being they have one of the best trauma departments in the area.

But normally you go to the nearest ER.

Anonymous said...

Most EMT runs are for heart attacks, strokes, falls and such rather than the type of trauma that sends you to SFGH. Not having a hospital as close as Seton could mean life and death for some.

Tom Clifford said...

Since a large chunk of taxpayers money has already be sunk into Seton maybe it should just become a county hospital.

Anonymous said...

You make too much sense, Tom. This end of the county needs a hospital.

Anonymous said...

San Mateo County is flush with cash they could pull of a purchase of Seton.

Are the Seton Medical offices still opened in Moss Beach or Half Moon Bay?

Anonymous said...

Can someone please explain why the Attorney General and State had to sign off on this deal?

Anonymous said...

Skipping the details, but, basically, in the late '90s the State Legislature gave the AG the power and duty to make sure the public interest was protected when for-profit healthcare companies try to acquire non-profit healthcare organizations. DCHS is a non-profit and operates safety-net hospitals in 6 or 7 CA cities. They turn away no one who needs medical treatment. The good sisters treat everyone regardless of ability to pay. Theirs is a 150-year old business model started by St. Vincent de Paul. They're going broke because they lack the clout to hammer out better re-imbursement schemes with the feds. Rising wages and benefits exacerbate the problem. The for-profit Prime Healthcare is bigger and has that clout. They also have better control on wages and benefits. Seemed like the deal was going to happen with the AG's terms and then Prime balked. Negotiating? Waiting for the bankruptcy? DCHS has some State issued bonds due in July 2015, so this could all be over by year-end.
Next year, Kamala Harris will run for, and almost certainly win, Barbara Boxer's US Senate seat. I like her priorities.

Anonymous said...

714 Yeah, they could, but they'd have to get AG approval to break out Seton and maybe St. Catherine's from the chain. How they doing with Chope? Losing money? Maybe as a county they do better with the reimbursements from the
federal and state governments than a charity does. They know how to operate safety-nets and deal with unions. Might work.