The Blythe City Council today voted to appoint Vice Mayor Johnny Rodriguez and Councilmember Sam Burton to an ad hoc committee in an effort to address the current situation at Palo Verde Hospital in conjunction with the hospital district’s board, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) and local elected representatives.
“We understand that there’s a huge problem, but we need to figure out why and where we go from here,” Mallory Crecelius, interim city manager and city clerk, said in an interview with The Riverside Record following the special May 30 meeting.
The decision came less than a week after the Palo Verde Healthcare Board of Directors, which oversees operations at Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe, announced that the hospital would be suspending patient admissions for the “foreseeable future,” following a closed session discussion at an emergency meeting held May 24.
The board also announced that the hospital’s emergency room and community clinic would remain open.
“These decisions are a result of financial issues that have been a long-time in the making,” Board President Carmela Garnica read from a statement at that meeting, streamed live by a resident on social media. “There are a number of factors that have resulted in the current situation for the district.
“The most significant are issues surrounding its computer software, ending up in litigation over that software, and the short period in which to replace the system,” she continued. “This issue dates as far back as 2023 and 2024 related to the changeover of its software.”
Garnica said the total cost of that issue has been about $15 million, which has been absorbed through the district’s reserves.
Trina Sartin, a board member who also serves as both the chief nursing officer and the chief operating officer of the hospital, said at an emergency meeting held May 28 that other issues adding to the hospital’s financial stress included the closure of Chuckawalla Valley State Prison and the subsequent decline in population, as well as the operation of two other primary healthcare providers in the community and the low reimbursement rates of Medi-Cal and the Inland Empire Health Plan.
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“Look around at our community,” she said. “There’s so many things that were out of our control with managed care. People don’t understand that.”
At that meeting, Garnica said that the district had been in communication with Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) who had “formally submitted an emergency funding request,” to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
“We anticipate receiving a response to our request during the next several days,” Garnica read from a statement. “If the funding is granted, it will provide us with the opportunity to develop a comprehensive reorganization plan designed to ensure the hospital’s future sustainability.”
Newsom’s office redirected a request for comment from The Record to the California Health and Human Services Agency. The agency did not respond prior to publication.
“This is a public health emergency,” Ruiz said in a statement about the request signed by him, Sen. Adam Schiff and Sen. Alex Padilla. “The closure of this hospital puts lives at risk and would leave a massive health care gap in one of the most underserved regions of our state. Patients will suffer. People will die.”
In an email to The Record, Board Clerk Joanna Gonzalez said that updates, including future board meetings, would be posted to the hospital’s website.
Crecelius said the council also authorized Mayor Joseph “Joey” DeConinck to issue letters to LAFCO, Newsom and other elected officials seeking for the immediate release of $4 million in requested emergency funds.
As for the ad hoc committee, she said no goals had been set, but that she had called the hospital’s attorney to request a meeting between the hospital board and the committee to determine next steps.
“The city council is committed to keeping a hospital in Blythe however we’re able to do that — working with our elected officials, working with current management, working with new management, whatever we need to do to keep this hospital functional,” she said. “We know how important that is to keep.”
According to Crecelius, the closest California-based hospital is more than 90 miles away. And while there’s a closer hospital in Parker, Arizona, it does not accept many of the common health insurance plans used by those in the community.
A 2018 grand jury report found that the hospital had historically experienced “extreme staffing shortages and a lack of physician coverage,” as well as “many operational problems” serving the region.
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