The Palo Verde Healthcare District (PVHD) Friday announced that it had come to an agreement with Riverside County to keep the hospital’s emergency room and ancillary services as well as the community clinic open.
“With the support of the city of Blythe and the county of Riverside, the district has obtained emergency, short-term funding to provide immediate operational support,” the district said in a statement. “This funding is intended to prevent an abrupt disruption of the hospital’s emergency services and the community clinic and to give the board and its advisors time to continue working with the county and other partners on a more sustainable path forward.”
According to a copy of the loan agreement between PVHD and the county, the district can only use the $1 million loan to maintain operations of the hospital’s emergency room, its ancillary services and the community clinic unless otherwise approved by the county.
Additionally, the district must contract with either the county or another county-approved qualified management company within 21 days to assume full day-to-day operational management of the hospital and fill board vacancies, in consultation with the county, within 30 days.
The application period for those interested in applying to serve on the board closed last Friday. The board is expected to interview and consider the appointment of two new board members at a special meeting set for January 30, according to a release from the district. The new directors will fill vacancies created by the resignations of Director Rosie Rowell last November and Director Dr. David Brooks earlier this month.
PVHD is expected to pay back the loan in quarterly installments of $54,032.50 starting in January 2027 and ending October 2031.
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“Over the last week, county teams have worked diligently with the Palo Verde Healthcare District on immediate steps towards our shared goal to stabilize the Palo Verde Hospital Emergency Department (ED),” the county said in a statement to The Riverside Record. “While much work lies ahead, the $1 million loan has been funded, which will provide urgent financial relief to maintain daily ED operations.”
The terms of the loan agreement are expected to be ratified by the PVHD board at its special January 26 meeting and by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors at its regular January 27 meeting.
Financial struggles at the hospital came to a head last May when the district announced that the hospital would be suspending patient admissions due to financial issues. In September, the Riverside County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted to begin the process of dissolving the district. In October, the hospital filed for bankruptcy prompting LAFCO to reevaluate its next steps. That same month, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a property tax revenue advance to support continued hospital operations.
If the hospital closes, more than 17,000 residents will be left without local access to emergency care, according to the city. Those with PPO plans would be forced to travel 50 miles to La Paz Regional Hospital in Arizona, while those with HMOs would need to travel 100 miles to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio or other Coachella Valley hospitals.
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We are delighted that our yesteryear client Riverside County is stepping in to support Palo Verde Hospital. 20,000 Americans in Blythe, California can finally and realistically look forward to the end of disgraceful and unpleasant 200 and 300 mile trips back and forth and back and forth that the elderly, children and the rest have had to make to access care over the past many years.
An alliance between our new Rural Centric Care Organization and Riverside University Health System can centralize care in Blythe for nearly everyone there. Our medical group and managed care operation from Imperial Valley (LegacyMD Medical Group, EasyAccess Care and Advanced MSO) are looking forward helping the county maximize its effectiveness there. We intend to expand physician resources there producing a medical and health care nexus of the highest and best kind.
The word these days is Rural Centricity©. A proprietary algorithm designed by Dr John Raffetto, Chairman of Ambassador Care and Rural Centric CareAmerica.