State Probes Relocation of Hospital Units

State officials are looking into whether the owners of the beleaguered Long Beach Community Medical Center improperly diverted important medical services, including a heart center and a neonatal unit, to their other Long Beach hospital.

The state attorney general’s office has opened an inquiry into complaints by a host of labor unions that Catholic Healthcare West has compromised care at Long Beach Community in its effort to close the 278-bed facility in the eastern part of the city.

Local labor leaders contend that the transfer of the heart center and the unit for premature babies to St. Mary Medical Center violates state law as well as Healthcare West’s agreement with the city to operate an acute care hospital on the site, which is city-owned.

The group of labor officials says the nonprofit chain must operate Long Beach Community as a fully equipped facility and continually try to improve medical care for patients.

“It appears that Catholic Healthcare West’s actions are intended to improve the market position of its other asset [St. Mary] rather than best serve the community,” the labor leaders stated in their formal complaint.

The attorney general’s office has the power to investigate nonprofit organizations established for charitable purposes, including hospitals and philanthropic groups. If wrongdoing is found, the agency can take a variety of actions, ranging from recovering assets to criminal prosecutions.

Sandra Michioku, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said Monday that the inquiry is a preliminary step to determine whether further action should be taken against Healthcare West.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Mark J. Urban, who has been assigned to the inquiry, is seeking accounting records and other documents from the hospital’s owner. He also is gathering information that shows whether the resources of Long Beach Community are limited to a charitable purpose.

Officials at Healthcare West declined to comment Monday, except to say that they are complying with the attorney general’s request for documents.

Janet Wright, president of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 777, said thousands of union members rely on Long Beach Community for health care. She was one of eight labor leaders who lodged a formal complaint earlier this month.

Among other things, their letter to state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer states that Healthcare West decided to transfer the heart center to St. Mary in October 1999 despite recommendations from a steering committee that all heart surgery be consolidated at Long Beach Community.

The 76-year-old medical center became controversial in June when Healthcare West, which had acquired the property in December 1998, disclosed that it would close the hospital by the end of the year. The announcement caught the public by surprise because officials at Long Beach Community and St. Mary had indicated that neither facility would be shut down due to the acquisition.

Healthcare West now says that Long Beach Community loses $12 million a year and that an 18-month effort to save it has failed.

East Long Beach residents and the hospital’s own doctors have rallied against the closure, saying the facility is vital to the neighborhood and can be saved. They have gained the support of local elected officials, who are trying to come up with a plan to rescue the facility.