Hospital Closure Puts Workers Out in the Cold : Jobs: About 280 employees of the financially troubled Beverly Hills Medical Center are given layoff notices. Some say they will file a lawsuit seeking severance pay and continuation of benefits.

There will be no Christmas bonuses or free turkeys for employees of the Beverly Hills Hospital and Medical Center this year. Instead, about 280 employees were given layoff notices from the financially troubled hospital, which will close its doors Friday after nearly 16 years.

Administrator Louis Pontarelli said revenue losses over the last year “spelled the kiss of death for the hospital,” a 241-bed facility, on Pico Boulevard just outside of Beverly Hills.

Hospital employees, who were informed on Dec. 12 that the hospital would close, say they plan to file a lawsuit against the owners seeking severance pay and continuation of benefits.

“They are playing with people’s livelihood and that’s dishonest,” said Diane Ashby, a respiratory therapist at the hospital.

Ashby and other employees said the hospital owners’ mismanagement forced them to endure a number of humiliations, including bounced paychecks and canceled health insurance. They also claim that deductions to their credit union accounts had been misappropriated.

Hospital officials, who acknowledge that there have been numerous problems caused by the facility’s precarious financial situation, say they plan to reimburse employees for all losses.

Officials said they are seeking permission from state health officials to continue operating an outpatient surgical treatment center in the building while searching for a new owner and funds for renovations. In the meantime, the hospital’s six inpatients will be transferred to other facilities.

“This is the holiday season and everyone was very disappointed about the closing,” Pontarelli said. “This was a great crew and we hope that these people will be considered for jobs if the hospital reopens.”

The small hospital, which has been in and out of financial difficulty over the years, has had four owners over the last decade. Pontarelli said the hospital was already in poor financial health when it was purchased by Hospital Affiliates of Florida Inc. from Republic Health Corp. of Dallas earlier this year.

One of the principal owners and chief executive officer of Hospital Affiliates was Stanley Diller. Diller had been one of the principal owners of the hospital 10 years ago before it was sold to Hospital Corp. of America, the owner before Republic.

In recent weeks, Diller turned over his ownership to his partner in Hospital Affiliates who has been paying off debts and searching for additional funding to keep the hospital open, Pontarelli said.

Diller and his wife, Dorothy, made news this week when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the couple to have $3 million in legal fees for their bitter divorce declared excessive. They have been battling over a fortune estimated at between $10 million and $15 million.

Employees complain that it was under Diller’s management that the hospital took a severe turn for the worse.

“Supplies and staffing were inadequate,” said Robert Uyeda, chief of medical staff for the hospital. “Morale was bad and patients were getting substandard care.”

Uyeda said as a result he and other doctors stopped admitting patients to the hospital in October.

“It is very sad,” Uyeda said. “I feel worse for the employees. The doctors can work at other hospitals. But many of the workers are being left without jobs five days before Christmas with no severance, no health benefits. It is very difficult to find a job now.”

Thelaline Chang, a cashier, was on maternity leave when she received word that she would not have a job after Friday.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said as she left the hospital with her 2-week old girl. “I came here to find out what benefits I have.”

Chang’s health benefits were dropped, but she will be able to continue them at her own expense, hospital officials say.

Maria Gutierrez, an emergency room admitting officer, said she will probably have a harder time finding work than many others.

“I’m pregnant,” she said. “Who is going to hire a pregnant woman? How am I going to get insurance coverage?”

Employees were asking these questions and more as they pondered what they will be doing after they are laid off.

“We are very angry,” said Carolyn Alberson, an admitting officer who has worked at the hospital eight years. “This was handled in a heartless way.”