Married, at Last, but Outside the Church
Speaking of delays, some mergers also are taking longer than expected.
South Coast Medical Center of Laguna Beach intended to hook up with Roseville-based Adventist Health last summer. But the 210-bed hospital didn’t tie the knot with the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s health care network until earlier this month.
The reason? Michael Murray, South Coast’s president, says the state attorney general objected to Adventist’s plan to change the Laguna institution from a “public benefit” corporation to a religious organization. The attorney general oversees tax-exempt corporations run for the benefit of the public to make sure they adhere to their missions, but doesn’t regulate religious organizations.
The health care companies agreed to keep South Coast as a public benefit corporation when it merged with Adventist and the attorney general let the merger proceed, says Murray.
*
Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
