Group Plans Rescue of French Hospital

A group of physicians and members of the Chinese community have signed a letter of intent to purchase the oldest hospital in Los Angeles, the troubled French Hospital in Chinatown.

According to hospital officials, the purchase would save the 129-year-old medical facility on West College Street, which had been expected to close next month.

Even though escrow may take up to six months, “there will be no lag in service,” said Don Carrico, chief executive officer of the 155-bed facility.

Carrico said the agreement provides for a purchase price of approximately $4.2 million for the hospital and equipment, with an option over the next six years to buy the land on which it stands for $10 million.

Details about the group of buyers were not immediately available.

French Hospital was built in 1860 to serve a French immigrant settlement. After Los Angeles’ original Chinatown was torn down in the 1930s, French remained. Although about 55% of its patients and a third of the medical staff are Chinese, the French Society, which still has more than 500 members, retained leadership of the boards, overseeing the facility and ownership of the land.