The next steps in reopening Community Hospital Long Beach is concluding the negotiations with new operator Molina, Wu, Network, LLC. (MWN)– which involves assessing the costs for seismic renovations, paperwork for State medical licensing and details for the transition– according to hospital officials Monday.
The team intends to move forward with the proposed agreements to the Long Beach City Council in October, according to officials.
Having completed its task to find Community a new operator, the group held its first official meeting as the Community Hospital Reopening Task Force on Aug. 27 at the Recreation Park 18 Golf Course Banquet Room, 5001 Deukmejian Dr.
Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation co-chairs Ray Burton and Ross Riddle hosted the meeting.
During the event, John Keisler, City of Long Beach director of economic and property development, said his team on day 60 of the city council’s 180-day deadline to negotiate an agreement with MWN.
At the previous task-force meeting in early August, Keisler said he had hoped to conclude negotiations within 90 days in order to fast-track the hospital’s reopening.
As aforementioned, Keisler said the negotiations involve State licensing, the costs associated with the transition process and the seismic retrofit that is required to meet Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development’s (OSHPD) standards.
“That was [what we did in] our last 60 days, and we are coming along with regard to the estimates about that process,” Keisler said. “We’re still in what’s called an ‘investigation phase,’ and nothing has been finalized, because we have to go through a peer-review process and figure out if these numbers are real and if this process is going to be sufficient.”
Keisler said the State of California has informed his team that all of Community’s 158 beds must come out of suspense to successfully reopen the hospital and transfer the license to MWN.
“After that, there will be a period where we will go through the process of shrinking down the facility to a seismically-safe portion of the campus, and it’ll probably be a much smaller acute-care facility on the seismically-safe portion of the property, but that will take a couple of years to accomplish,” Keisler said. “We’re working through those issues as part of our lease. […] I really do want to emphasize how much Community and the City are grateful that MWN is at the table and is willing to enter into this kind of proposition, because it is rife with financial and other kinds of risk.”
Ray Burton, chair of the nonprofit Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation, said during the hospital’s task-force meeting on Monday, Aug. 27 at the Recreation Park 18 Golf Course that the City of Long Beach Public Health Department and local hospitals are conducting a needs-assessment study to gauge public input on what services residents want from Community.
“What council has approved so far is the ability to negotiate, but anything we negotiate– any terms and conditions that are decided or agreed to– have to come back to the public and have to come back to the city council in a public meeting,” Keisler said. “[…] We would like that to be in October, but we’ve got a long way to go in the next couple of weeks.”
Keisler said there are still two dozen physicians that are practicing at the Community building, which is being utilized as a professional-office space. There are only a few vacant offices, he added.
The City has also been mindful of fixing issues with the medical facility’s: irrigation; elevators; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); and landscaping.
While there were initial plans to install a fence around the hospital, Keisler noted that on-site security, operating on a 24/7 basis, has been successful in securing the facility, recently apprehending a suspect who broke into the site.
“But, we haven’t had many of the issues that we were afraid of because of how active the campus remains,” Keisler said. “So, we’re talking with our partners about whether or not we should put up a fence. Does it look more attractive to a potential burglar if they see a fence? We’re actually talking about that issue right now.”
At the meeting, Narbutas commended the State’s central-application unit in Sacramento for “expediting” the paperwork process during MWN’s transition, adding that what would typically take six to nine months is expected to finish much sooner.
“It still looks like we’re on track for January,” Narbutas said about Community’s expected reopening.
MemorialCare staff is still in the process of moving its information-technology (IT) equipment, with assistance from “sister hospital” Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Narbutas said. MemorialCare and MWN have been in communication about what is being moved out and what needs to be replaced at the medical facility, he added.
Narbutas said the City has been helpful in communicating what equipment is required, as well.
“It’s still a hospital that’s open and functioning,” he said. “There’s no patients in it, but the physical plant is running. The City and I are very good partners, and we’re talking all the time.”
The CEO said the City’s employment agency, Pacific Gateway, is assisting in hiring former employees to Community. Narbutas said November is the target month to start fast-tracking the employee-hiring process.
Burton mentioned during the meeting that the City of Long Beach Public Health Department and local hospitals are conducting a community-needs assessment to gauge public input on what kind of medical services residents would want at Community.
Although Burton said the foundation’s mission is to support and raise money for the medical needs of Community, the call-to-action isn’t clear until a needs-assessment is completed to determine what services will be offered at the hospital.
Burton also shed light as to why MWN is opting to make Community a for-profit institution when MemorialCare previously operated it as a nonprofit.
“Well, the reality is, Memorial had a net income of over $346 million in 2017,” Burton said. “That was a net income. So, you might want to say that they are a nonprofit, but that’s a lot of money to make in one year when you’re not for-profit. […] It really winds up being a tax issue– a property-tax issue. So, they are going to be a for-profit entity. What does that mean for the foundation? It means that, legally, we cannot do anything to help [MWN] make money. But, we can do a lot of things to help with Community. That’s what we’re focusing on.”
The Community Hospital Reopening Task Force will convene at its next meeting Monday, Sept. 24 at an undisclosed time and date. Visit chlbfoundation.org for more information.
