Hospital Sale Deal Lambasted

A crowded community meeting Saturday over the sale of Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center to a for-profit corporation was punctuated by outcries from placard-wielding, foot-stamping opponents who chanted, “Save the Queen!”

Several hundred people--union activists, community members and clerics, not to mention executives, lawyers and spin doctors--turned out at Virgil Middle School on Vermont Avenue for the first of two public sessions on the proposed sale of the 410-bed Catholic community hospital. Tenet Healthcare Corp., the nation’s second-largest hospital chain, has bid $86 million.

Opponents, including a spokeswoman for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, took the opportunity to lambaste the transaction, suggesting that Tenet may be more interested in satisfying stockholders than in treating the residents of the surrounding low-income, largely immigrant Hollywood-area community.

“This is not a good deal for the community, and it does not protect what we already have,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg in a speech interrupted by applause and cheers. “It is a loss, and we would hope the attorney general would deny the application.”

The state attorney general’s office, which scheduled the hearing as required under a new law, is responsible for approving such sales.

Opponents of the deal believe that an investor-owned chain like Tenet may sacrifice key services such as emergency room and obstetrical care in the interest of turning a profit.

Representatives of the hospital and Tenet said they could foresee no reduction in those services, only increases. Tenet pledged to spend $4 million to expand the emergency room and indicated that it would consider making the hospital a regional obstetrical center.

“Tenet’s position is that we will add to the hospital, not take away from it,” said Lee Domanico, the company’s vice president for the eastern Los Angeles region.

Goldberg and other political and community representatives said they want guarantees. They said the contract merely obligates Tenet to continue emergency and obstetrical services for five years--and only if government payments do not drop.

A spokeswoman for Mahony said for-profit corporations should not be entrusted with charitable care.

“We cannot let ourselves be caught up in a solely market-driven system that is only concerned with private inurement of shareholders,” said a statement from Mahony read by Sister Carolita Hart.

The cardinal has insisted that his consent is required for the sale--a position the hospital board disputes--and has vowed to take the issue up with the Vatican.

His statement, and those of several lay opponents, questioned the board’s selection of Tenet when two Catholic organizations made competitive bids.

Medical staff President Moneim Fadali, who was ousted from the board after he protested the proposed sale, and a consumer attorney said the selection process was suspect. Consumers Union attorney Julio Mateo said the hospital board apparently was not fully informed of its options by a management committee that arranged the sale.

A representative of one of the Catholic bidders, Carondelet Health System, said his organization initially bid $180 million, then $200 million for the hospital. He said he did not understand why the bid was rejected.

Hospital officials said outside the meeting that those statements were based on misinformation. Board attorney Carl Weissburg said bids from Carondelet and another Catholic chain were too low. The Carondelet bid was to be paid over time and was for Queen of Angels’ entire health system, including a network of clinics, not just the hospital, he said.

Other issues that ignited debate:

* The future of employees. Union representatives said they are worried that their jobs are not safe and that Tenet will not honor their contract. Tenet officials pledged to retain employees in good standing at the same salary and benefit levels and to negotiate another contract in good faith.

* Reproductive services. Some consumer advocates protested Tenet’s pledge to honor Catholic strictures on certain reproductive services, such as family planning, for 20 years. Tenet officials said they wanted to honor the ethics of the hospital.

* Alleged conflicts of interest. Several opponents said they do not believe it is appropriate for some Queen of Angels officials who arranged the sale to receive compensation from a charitable foundation that will be funded by proceeds from the deal. This foundation will continue to fund Queen of Angels’ clinics and community-based services.