Rural hospital goes through problems and needs help to stay open

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Last spring, the hospital in Palo Verde in Blit was on the verge of closing after a series of financial failures left him without funds.

In May, the hospital announced that he would not accept new patients “in the predictable future”, although his emergency ward and his clinic remained open, Riverside’s record is reported.

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But the state funding for emergencies announced this summer will help the village hospital remain open, according to the state senator Steve Padila, a Democrat from San Diego, whose area includes parts of the internal empire.

“At a time when our village hospitals are facing financial difficulties and possible closure, it is essential to intervene the state to ensure that all Californians have access to vital medical attention,” ” Padila stated S “These hospitals are usually the only source of medical care for the whole community. The Hospital Palo Verde is the only center for intensive treatment of an area of ​​160 kilometers, approximately two hours by car; too far in case of emergency.”

As the hospital in Palo Verde stopped the admission of new patients in May, representative Raul Ruiz, Democrat from Palm Desert, asked governor Gavin News to give $ 4 million from the state budget to keep it in sailing, Desert Sun reported.

He has defined the forthcoming closure as an emergency in the field of public health, which “puts life at risk and will leave a huge gap in medical care in one of the most supervision of the regions of our country.”

State agencies intervened but did not provide the amount requested by Ruiz. The state medical service optimizes Medi-Cal payments for $ 560,000 at Palo Verde’s hospital, “to support hospital surgery and to protect access to medical care for the Community,” said the California Health and Human Services Agency to calm down in email.

Last year, the access department and information on medical care gave the center $ 8.5 million through the Hospital Loan Loan Program, but there are no funds available through the aforementioned program. As the beneficiary of this assistance, the hospital had to present a restructuring plan that details how they would use these funds to remain a long -term solvent.

The hospital will also receive an extension of the payment of state loans, which will allow him to distribute this money in patient care instead of the debt service, Padilla’s office told Calmatters.

The Centro Regional Medical Center, in the County Imperial, another center in the desert with serious financial difficulties, received $ 28 million through the Hospital Loan Loan Program last year and recently received condensation of the debt debt, according to civil servants. In July As reported by Calexico Chronicle.

Palo Verde Hospital visits 18,117 Blith residents, 2600 prisoners from the Ironwood state prison and thousands more in the region, Ruiz has declared himself in a letter to Newsom S Without it, the closest medical attention would be about two hours at the hospital of the JFK de Indio Memorial and the Colorado River Medical Center in Needles.

Ruiz said the hospital was facing a cascade of problems, including court disputes, replacement of operating systems and a cyber attack, which left the hospital with a negative flow of approximately $ 1 million a month.

The closure of the State Prison in the Valley of the Chuckhawal in 2024 led to a decrease in the city’s population, and the low levels of media recovery and insurance also led to the hospital’s financial crisis, according to Riverside’s records.

It’s not the only one. Rural hospitals in California have always acted with a limited margin of benefits, and several are on the verge of closing this year, According to Capitol & Main In June, adding that “California’s rural health system has been in an uncertain financial situation for years.”