The Palo Verde Healthcare District (PVHD) this week announced that it had secured a $4 million loan that will allow it to participate in a state funding program and opened applications to fill a vacancy on the PVHD board.
The loan, provided by Alleon Capital Partners, LLC, will allow the district to be able to cover the cost of participation in the Voluntary Rate Range Intergovernmental Transfer Program, which in turn provides nearly $10 million in additional funding to the district.
“This is welcome and very encouraging news for our patients, our employees, and the entire Palo Verde Valley,” Carmela Garnica, PVHD board chair, said in a release. “This funding creates a real path forward to stabilize hospital operations and protect access to local health care while the District continues to develop its long-range financial and hospital restructuring plan with the aid of the Chapter 9 bankruptcy process.”
According to the district, the state still has to confirm that the funds count as “permissible local funds.” The district could not provide a timeline for when that determination would be made.
“Should the state choose to reject the use of the loan funds, the district’s staff and board of directors will develop alternate plans as part of its Chapter 9 bankruptcy,” Board Clerk Joanna Gonzalez said in an email to The Riverside Record. “When that is ready, staff will review alternative options with the board at a public meeting where decisions are made.”
Stay up to date with the latest from The Record. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter today!
If approved by the state, Gonzalez said the funding would be used to keep the hospital open and provide “mission critical essential medical services,” to the community as the board continued to work through a “broader financial recovery and sustainability plan.”
The $4 million loan is set to be repaid by December 9, 2026. Gonzalez said $200,000 of the loan would be used to cover the interest and the principal would be paid using local revenue sources, such as non-federal patient billing collections, local income and some or all of the non-federal portion of the roughly $10 million in funding the district will receive from the state transfer program.
Gonzalez said the remaining revenue from the state transfer program would be used in accordance with the district’s approved pendency plan budget while in Chapter 9 bankruptcy and then under its financial recovery plan which must be approved by both the district and the bankruptcy court.
The news of the additional funding came just one day after the hospital district officially opened the application period for a board vacancy created by the November resignation of Board Member Rosie Rowell.
Those interested in applying to be on the board must submit an application letter to Gonzalez no later than 5 p.m. January 5, 2026. The board is expected to consider the appointment of a new board member at the January 14 meeting.
To be eligible, applicants must be registered voters residing within the boundaries of PVHD. In their application letter, applicants must include a comprehensive statement outlining their interest in and reasons for seeking service on the board. Applicants must also file a Fair Political Practices Act Disclosure Statement.
More information can be found here on the district’s website.
The Riverside Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet providing Riverside County with high-quality journalism free of charge. We’re able to do this because of the generous donations of supporters like you!
Comments are closed.