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A Blythe hospital that filed Ch. 9 bankruptcy protection in September when it was close to shutting down will remain open for at least six months.
The Palo Verde Healthcare District’s board of directors recently approved an agreement with Riverside County that allows the county to take control of Palo Verde Hospital for 180 days, according to a statement on the county’s website.
County officials will spend that time making certain the 51-bed acute care hospital provides adequate emergency care, a vital concern because Palo Verde Hospital is the only provider of emergency treatment in that part of the High Desert.
The management agreement was approved 3-0 at a special board meeting Feb. 19. Because the hospital is still in Ch. 9, the bankruptcy procedure assigned to municipalities, the plan must be approved in court.
That plan makes it possible for Palo Verde Hospital to continue providing uninterrupted emergency medical services while long-term solutions for the hospital’s financial problems are worked, said Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez.
“Access to care in this region is essential, which is why my colleagues on the board and I voted to support this hospital,” Perez said in the statement. “We brought leaders together because the community deserves stability and action.”
Perez’s district includes Blythe, a city in eastern Riverside County with a population of 17,320, as of 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The plan will be carried out by a “stake team” of staff members from the Riverside University Health System, the public healthcare system that covers all of Riverside County. RUHS includes hospitals, community health centers, and public health services.
The team members will visit Palo Verde Hospital to assess its condition and manage the facility. The group will look closely at patient safety, staffing and the emergency department, which must be able to run without interruption.
Palo Verde Healthcare District will remain the licensed operator, workers will remain healthcare district employees, and the district will continue to own the hospital. “Our team is energized and ready to hit the ground running,” said Jennifer Cruikshank, chief executive officer of Riverside University Health System-Medical Center and Clinics, in the statement. “We aren’t here just to manage a transition. We are here to support the frontline staff and ensure that every resident has access to the high-quality, stable care they deserve.’
After six months, the county will provide written recommendations regarding long-term sustainability and recommendations for clinic and hospital operations. After that, the county will submit written recommendations regarding how to maintain, or improve, the hospital’s performance, according to the report.
Last May, officials with healthcare district, Riverside, and Blythe began working on a plan that would keep Palo Verde Hospital’s emergency room open, at least temporarily, said Johnny Rodriguez, Blythe’s vice mayor.
“It was a do-or-die situation because there’s other emergency room up here,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone with the county and the city recognized that.”
In January Riverside County and Blythe provided $1 million and $330,000, respectively, to keep the emergency room operating.
“We agreed to do that so the county would have time to get organized,” Rodriguez said. “At one point there was a real possibility that the emergency room would shut down, but it never did. It reduced its operations, but it never closed. It was always open 24 hours, seven days a week.
“For at least the next six months we will continue to have that service.”
During that time, the county will oversee Palo Verde Hospital’s emergency department, and all of its support units, including lab, radiology, pharmacy, and patient flow, according to a healthcare district staff report.
The healthcare district will be responsible for regulatory compliance, licensing, billing and collections, and maintenance.
While the strike teams look for ways to improve Palo Verde Hospital’s Day-to-operations, the council will spend the next few months looking for a permanent operator for the hospital. Several entities, whom he declined to name, have expressed interest in taking on that responsibility, according to Rodriguez.
“The agreement gives us some breathing room because it gives us access to professional (medical) services that only a large county can provide,” Rodriguez said “It will save a lot of lives. Everybody on both sides deserve a lot credit for their effort.”
Several factors contributed to Palo Verde Hospital’s financial problems.
It did not receive Medicare and Medi-Cal because of the bankruptcy filing. The hospital also was not paid by the state Department of Corrections for services it provided at Ironwood State Prison, about 20 miles from Blythe.
Those issues both helped cause the hospital’s financial problems, but they have been resolved.
“The county has talked to the state of California, and it will be able to keep participating in the intergovernmental transfer program for Medicare funds,” Rodriguez said. “We hope that will provide the hospital within another $6 million in the near future.”
Filing for bankruptcy protection was seen as the only way to keep Palo Verde Hospital open, even though a Ch. 9 filing can take years to resolve.
“Chapter 9 is the last tool left while we work to fix the financial management challenges that have so drastically impacted the hospital during the past several years,” said Carmela Garnica, board president, in a statement. “Our community deserves a functioning hospital, (and) we are doing everything we can to keep it open.”
Palo Verde Hospital opened in 1948. It has undergone major renovations in 1962 and 1979, and several owners during its nearly 80 years in operation.
Its potential closing became a major issue with High Desert residents.
“People were very concerned because they knew the hospital could close at any time,” Rodriguez said.” At one point I was getting phone calls from 5 a.m. to midnight from people who were concerned about not having an emergency room nearby.”
