PALMDALE : Sale of Hospital Under Discussion

Representatives of the debt-ridden owner of Palmdale Hospital Medical Center are discussing a possible sale of the 123-bed facility with at least three potential buyers, including the two other hospitals that are Palmdale’s main competitors, a spokesman said Thursday.

The potential buyers include the public hospital district that operates the 341-bed Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster; the owner of the 132-bed Lancaster Community Hospital, Paracelsus Healthcare Corp., and a third party that officials would not identify.

Palmdale is one of four hospitals, along with Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley, owned by Orange-based Affiliated Medical Enterprises. The company has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since January, 1991, and founder Dan Young has been accused of fleeing to China with up to $4 million.

Michael Nutter, an associate with Alvarez & Marsal, the New York-based company appointed to liquidate AME’s assets, said the asking price for the Palmdale hospital, which continues to operate, is about $16 million. That includes a vacant 23-acre site on Avenue P planned for a new hospital.

Nutter said a letter of intent with one of the prospective buyers could be signed in one to two weeks. A prior proposed sale of the Palmdale hospital to Idaho-based Lapesch & Co. fell apart recently.