The Argonaut - August 15,2002
Judge issues preliminary injunction temporarily halting closure of hospitalBY CINDY FRAZIER
In a major victory for local activists, a Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, August 13th, ordering Tenet Healthcare Corporation to keep Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital and its emergency room open until an upcoming trial on the closure or until conditions for the hospital closure are met.
Attorney general Bill Lockyer sued Tenet regarding conditions linked to the hospital closure, but a trial date on that suit has not yet been set, said deputy attorney general Wendi Horwitz.
The hospital site has been put up for sale and the hospital was due to close permanently Monday, August 26th.
Preparing for the closure, the hospital stopped admitting non-emergency patients Wednesday, July 3rd, and moved its chemical dependency and psychiatric wards to another Tenet-owned facility.
After a lengthy two-part hearing, Judge Dzintra Janavs granted Lockyer's request for a preliminary injunction, temporarily halting the hospital closure.
"This is great news to ensure that the community has input in Tenet's plans for the operation of the Marina hospital and the delivery of quality health care in the area," Lockyer said.
Janavs ordered Tenet to keep the hospital in operation, continue providing emergency care, admit new non-emergency patients and stop the process of closing the facility until conditions for the hospital closure are met, or a trial is held in the case.
"We got everything we wanted," said Julie Inouye, a Playa del Rey resident and organizer of Save Our Marina Hospital.
"We believe the hospital will be saved," Inouye said. "We are now talking to two interested buyers, and we believe Daniel Freeman Marina can be viable."
It is unclear how long the hospital can remain in operation.
Tenet attorney Marjorie Lewis argued in court that the hospital could not be kept open safely because of staffing shortages.
Lewis told Janavs that the company "is concerned about the safety of the public," and that the Marina area hospital had reached a crisis point Saturday, August 11th, when key medical personnel refused to show up for work.
On a previous weekend, the county Emergency Medical Serv-ices Agency had rerouted ambulances away from the Marina area hospital emergency room due to lack of key medical staff.
David Langness, a Tenet spokesman, said the company believes his firm has met Lockyer's requirements.
"We have complied with the attorney general's conditions and we will do everything we can to meet the judge's requirements," Langness said.
Lockyer sought the preliminary injunction forcing the hospital to remain open after community members complained that the healthcare giant had not complied with "public interest conditions" as required by Lockyer prior to the May 29th announcement that the hospital would close on or before Monday, August 26th.
In the two-part hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Janavs took Tenet to task for a variety of actions, including a last-minute submission of declarations in which the healthcare corporation sought to convince the judge that the hospital should be shut down because of staffing shortages.
Janavs said that, once conditions are met, Tenet can return to her court to seek a lifting of the injunction, according to Horwitz.
Tenet purchased the two financially ailing hospitals — the Marina area facility and Daniel Freeman Memorial hospital in Inglewood — from an order of Catholic nuns in December.
The state attorney general has the authority to dictate terms of a conversion of hospitals in the state from nonprofit to for-profit status, and Lockyer placed certain conditions on the closure of the Marina area hospital.
The Inglewood hospital must remain open for five years, but no such condition was placed on the Marina area facility.
The hospital property on Lincoln Boulevard in the Marina area was put up for sale by Tenet Thursday, May 30th, six months after the hospital was purchased from the nuns.
Since the Marina area hospital was put up for sale, numerous developers have reportedly expressed interest in the property.