Anaheim General has been one of their hospitals which has been in the news quite a bit it it was the first closed and now the non profit will be closing 3 other remaining hospitals.  It was just in 2011 that Anaheim General got their accreditation back and was looking for a buyer. 

Anaheim General Hospital Up for Sale – Booted The CEO, Got Our Accreditation Back And Are Ready to Start Taking Offers…

Apparently the last fine levied appears to be what put things over the line here with $7 million added to the already $16.5 million penalty received earlier.  The company operates the Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center, Tustin Hospital, Newport Specialty Hospital, Bellflower Medical Center and Anaheim General Hospital.  The hospitals had begun bouncing checks.

Pacific Health Corporation Hospital Chain Fined $7 Million for Bouncing Employee Payroll Checks And Not Sending Payroll Deductions To Insurance Companies

Patients are being transferred to other hospitals and a lot of folks are out of work once this has taken place.  The emergency rooms are already closed and the rest of the facilities will close once all the patients are moved.   The communities and employees are the big losers here of course.  Employees received the word on the closures on Tuesday, so this was quick.  Perhaps there might be hope for a new owner to come in.  Everyone thinks of Prime Healthcare who does buy distressed hospitals and they just bought 2 in Kansas that closed this week.  The Los Angeles hospital is where the big fraud took place with recruiting homeless people to become patients a few years ago and defrauded Medicare and Medicaid.  I guess in this situation the fines were already too much to bear to keep the hospitals in business. 


BELLFLOWER, Calif. (KABC) -- Pacific Health Corp. will be closing more hospitals this week. The closures come after the corporation was fined $16.5 million in fines and restitution to the government.

Pacific Health was accused of recruiting homeless people to undergo unnecessary tests and procedures, billing Medicare and Medi-Cal. As part of the settlement, PHC's Los Angeles Doctors Hospital pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Emergency rooms will close Wednesday at Bellflower Medical Center, LA Metropolitan Medical Center and the Hawthorne campus and Newport Specialty Hospital. The rest of the hospitals' services will stop when all the patients can be transferred.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9051135

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