Riverside makes more money available to Blythe hospital

Efforts to save Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe received another assist recently from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

On March 3, the board voted 4-0 to give a $3.4 million “expansion loan” in support of the Palo Verde Healthcare District, which owns the hospital, to the California Department of Health Services.

That vote will help keep the beleaguered hospital – which filed for bankruptcy in September – up and running. That was welcome news to Blythe officials, who are battling to keep open the only hospital in that part of the High Desert.

“It’s a great upgrade from where we were,” Vice Mayor Johnny Rodriguez said. “It gives us a lot of stability, and a lot of confidence that we can rebuild the hospital financially. People in the community will know the hospital is there if they need it.”

The board’s vote – Supervisor Chuck Washington was absent – came one week after it voted unanimously to assume control of Palo Verde Hospital.

Along with that vote, county Chief Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen recommended that the board take $3.4 million from its general fund and make an “inter-governmental transfer loan” between the healthcare health service department and the healthcare district.

Riverside County has now arranged for two loans totaling $4.4 million in order to keep Palo Verde Hospital open. In February, the board voted 5-0 to approve a $1 million loan, also from the county’s general fund, for that purpose.

The Palo Verde Healthcare District has to date received $8.9 million from the state and the county to help keep Palo Verde Hospital up and running. The healthcare district board, which is elected by the public, normally operates Palo Verde Hospital.

Last month, the board unanimously approved a management agreement that included a 180-day stabilization period that began Feb 23.

During that time, a team of Medi-Cal professionals approved by the board and taken from the Riverside University Health System began working on stabilizing Palo Verde Hospital’s emergency care, by far the biggest concern of Blythe officials and residents.

Until August Riverside County will oversee day-to-day operations at Palo Verde Hospital, and will provide that facility with some financial support, during that six-month period.

Otherwise, the county will play no role in running the hospital, its ownership will not change, and the healthcare district will remain the hospital’s licensed operator, according to a county statement.

In addition to approving the $3.4 million loan, the board of supervisors authorized independent attorneys to deal with the healthcare district’s bankruptcy proceedings, which haven’t been settled.

It also made official the management services agreement it approved in February, a move that drew praise from Carmela Garnica, president of the healthcare district board.

“(This) is an extremely important step forward for Palo Verde Hospital and our community,” Garnica said in the statement, “Our board, hospital staff and expert consultants have worked tirelessly to preserve local health care services. We are grateful to Riverside University Health System for stepping in with the expertise needed to stabilize operations during this 180-day period.”

Opened in 1948, Palo Verde Hospital has undergone two major refurbishments, in 1979 and 1962. It has also had several ownership changes.

Today, the 52-bed facility is the only hospital within approximately 100 miles of Blythe.  La Paz Hospital is about 50 miles away, in Parker, Ariz. but most insurance provided by California is not accepted there.

Two issues were the main cause of the financial problems that led to Palo Verde Hospital’s bankruptcy: Medicare and Medi-Cal payments were withheld because of computer issues, and the hospital was not reimbursed by the state Department of Corrections for work it did at Ironwood State Prison, which has about 2,000 inmates and is approximately 20 miles from Blythe.

Ultimately, the hospital lost approximately $940,000 a month in payments from Medicare, Medi-Cal, and the corrections department. Hospital officials submitted audited cost reports to all three entities, but the technical problems kept the payments from being made.

Those issues have been resolved. and the emergency room has remained open. Because Blythe is so remote, keeping the emergency room open has been the community’s highest priority, said Sandra Hudson, director of the health care district board.

The loan expansion vote will help keep the entire hospital up and running while the county searches for a permanent manager/operator for the facility.

“It was the only option,” said Hudson, a Blythe resident since 1979 and a district board member intermittently during the past 12 years. “The board of supervisors has to keep the hospital open. If they hadn’t, the entire community would have been in bad shape. I’m just concerned because the county seems to be adamant about this only being for six months.

“But on the overall, I’m pleased with the vote. Not only does it keep the emergency room open, it keeps the people there employed.”

The county has interviewed “six or seven” potential operators, but no details have leaked out, Hudson said.

“I’m looking for someone with an open mind and who is dedicated to the community,” Hudson said. “Someone who will focus on bringing people back to the hospital, because once people start going out of town for Medi-Cal care, they tend to keep doing it. They start spending their money there.”