Orthopaedic, Childrens Hospitals Discuss Merger

Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and Orthopaedic Hospital have begun discussing a possible merger aimed at developing a center for pediatric surgery and orthopedics that would be internationally renowned.

The two hospitals, among the top three providers of charitable health care in California, began exploratory talks early this year. The discussions were triggered in part by what officials say is Childrens Hospital’s growing shortage of beds and the availability of space at Orthopaedic.

“The merger of the two of them will really make a megahospital,” said David Langness of the Hospital Council of Southern California. “What you’ll see is a very big and very resourceful, two-campus medical facility . . . able to compete in the world-class market.”

The contemplated consolidation of the two nonprofit facilities comes amid a tightening of government expenditures for health care and a rash of hospital mergers. Twenty-nine acute-care hospitals have merged in California since 1984, state figures show.

But the Los Angeles merger would be unusual in that it would bring together the second- and third-largest charitable institutions in the state, Langness said. About 12% of each hospital’s total billings cover charitable care.

Childrens Hospital has 331 beds and Orthopaedic has 162.

The patient census at Childrens Hospital has risen with development of specialized programs to treat sicker children. Meanwhile, Orthopaedic has been on average only half-full, as surgery has shifted to an outpatient basis.