After the Conversion

In Slidell, Louisiana, the regulatory structure required public vote to approve the sale of a public hospital. There, the community voted overwhelmingly against the conversion, and has stayed engaged on issues involving the hospital. After the vote, the group continued to work to improve the organizing legislation for the hospital and improving the process for selecting board members. In addition, some members of the community continued their efforts by working to pass a bond measure authorizing a property tax to provide substantial funding for the hospital.

In Yakima, Washington, the community group that initially came together to discuss the hospital conversion there, continues to meet regularly to discuss and strategize on ways to address the community’s health care needs and heighten awareness of health care issues in the Yakima Valley.

In the Daniel Freeman Hospitals conversion in Los Angeles, members of the community repeatedly raised their concerns that Tenet would close Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, particularly because Tenet owned several other hospitals in the area surrounding it. At the public hearings before the California Attorney General, many people testified about the important role the facility played in the community. Included in the asset purchase agreement was a provision that required Tenet to conduct a comprehensive assessment and planning process within 90 days after the conversion to determine the operating and capital needs of the hospitals on an aggregate basis including programmatic, facility and resources needs for the two facilities. The agreement said the planning process, at a minimum, had to include medical staff and employees, local elected officials, and the local governing boards at the hospitals. The Attorney General expanded the comprehensive planning process to incorporate public input and consultation with community-based healthcare organizations and the county emergency services agency.

The community was then taken by surprise when Tenet announced on May 29, 2002 that it was going to stop admitting inpatients the next day at its other hospital, Daniel Freeman Marina del Rey, and that it would completely close the hospital in less than three months. The advocacy groups that had been involved in the sale requested that the Attorney General investigate Tenet’s compliance with the conditions. After researching Tenet’s activities prior to making the closure announcement, the Attorney General found that Tenet had, in fact, failed to comply with the public input requirement. The Attorney General then filed a preliminary injunction in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 16, 2002 to stop Tenet from closing the hospital. At the August 13, 2002 hearing, the judge granted the preliminary injunction and ordered Tenet to keep the hospital open and return it to the level of services provided before the closure announcement was made.

Tenet and the Attorney General announced on April 1, 2003 that they had settled the case. Tenet agreed to pay $100,000 to cover legal fees and $400,000 to a foundation to distribute grants to organizations that provide medical services to the indigent population in the areas surrounding the hospital. On April 7, 2003, Tenet announced that it was going to keep the hospital open indefinitely.