By Steven Piper
Editorial Intern
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (LBMMC) and Community Hospital of Long Beach (CHLB) have entered talks regarding LBMMC’s becoming the owner and operator of CHLB.
Currently, the two nonprofit organizations are negotiating the terms of a management services agreement. Meanwhile, CHLB has continued to operate as an independent organization.
Serving the east side of Long Beach, CHLB opened its doors in 1924, closed briefly in 2000, and, after public outcry for the facility to reopen, it offered its services again nine months later.
Located at 1730 Termino Ave., the hospital offers services that include adult medicine, behavioral health, 24/7 emergency care, surgery, occupational medicine and a comprehensive cancer-care center.
“At Community Hospital of Long Beach, our staff members are strongly committed to providing the best medical care through a caring, compassionate, personalized approach for every patient,” said Nancy Myers, CHLB board chair. “The management services agreement with Long Beach Memorial Medical Center will provide us with the resources needed to continue our important work, so that we can ensure access to timely and quality care for the residents of East Long Beach.”
LBMMC, a member of the MemorialCare Health System, has been open for more than 100 years, and, according to a press release from the care center, it is “the region’s first choice for comprehensive care in virtually every medical and surgical specialty.” Especially unique to the hospital is the Miller Children’s Hospital (MCH), which is one of only eight freestanding youth hospitals in the region.
“Both Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Community Hospital of Long Beach have played an integral part in serving the health-care needs of the greater Long Beach region for many decades,” said Diana Hendel, CEO of LBMMC and MCH. “Given the ongoing economic impacts affecting providers and the anticipated effects that health reform will have on hospitals, the intent of the agreement is to enhance the ability of both not-for-profit institutions to continue providing quality care for the residents of Long Beach well into the future.”
MemorialCare Health System is an integrated delivery system that includes, in addition to LBMMC and MCH, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills and San Clemente.
