Healthcare Watchdog Our SALUD Warns of Widespread Community Concern Regarding the Sale of Daughters of Charity Health System

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Our SALUD, a grassroots healthcare watchdog organization, sent letters to Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and Attorney General Kamala Harris warning them of the widespread community concern regarding the potential sale of the non-profit Daughters of Charity Health System's six safety-net hospitals located throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County to for-profit Prime Healthcare. 

In January 2014, the Daughters of Charity announced they were selling their six hospitals because the chain has struggled financially as medical costs continue to escalate and reimbursements from Medicare and Medi-Cal have plummeted.  The Daughters are currently reviewing bids from several for-profit health systems wanting to purchase the hospitals. It is believed the Daughters will make a decision on the potential buyer soon.  According to several news stories, Prime Healthcare is one of the bidders.

It is widely reported that Prime Healthcare allegedly devises schemes intended to deny or unreasonably delay access to care to the uninsured.  According to news reports, it allegedly discourages or prevents uninsured patients from utilizing Prime Hospitals' emergency room services.  It has also been reported that Prime Hospitals routinely "up-code" insured patients, a form of billing fraud by exaggerating a patient's medical condition to garner higher reimbursement rates. Prime Healthcare practices are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Should Prime be selected, we are calling on you to protect the communities now served by these hospitals," said Nestor Valencia, co-founder, Our SALUD. "As Californians' protector, we ask that you enforce the state's patient protection laws against Prime. It is critical that the state act decisively and universally to enforce its laws to protect all communities."

Recently, the City of Lynwood voted on September 2^nd to oppose any sale to Prime. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is similarly looking into the impact on safety-net hospitals in the event of a sale.  In June, Our SALUD filed a civil complaint against the California Department of Public Health for failing to enforce the rules and regulations on Prime Healthcare to protect access to essential health care services.

"Our SALUD does not oppose a sale of the Daughters' hospitals," said Elba Romo.  "However, we strongly believe that it is incumbent on the Administration to ensure that any buyer is demonstrably committed to the lawful operation of a hospital, and is held accountable to those requirements."  

Our SALUD has a history of fighting to correct abuses, protect patients and fight for safer, healthier communities.  The group has helped mobilize grassroots and local government support for initiatives to combat HMO abuses and environmental contamination at the local and statewide level.     

SOURCE Our SALUD