After teetering on the brink of closure last year, Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in the Marina area may be on the path to recovery.

But it is a long road, with no clear end in sight.

One year after the hospital was put in closure mode by its owner — healthcare giant Tenet Healthcare Corp. — efforts by a new management team to bring in more patients appear to be working.

Tenet announced in May that the Marina area hospital would close July 22nd last year and the closure process began, with the elimination of some services.

In July last year, there were 1,455 visits to the hospital emergency room (ER), according to the hospital chief executive officer Harris Koenig.

In July this year, 1,750 ER patients were treated at the Marina area hospital — a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

But, while ER visits generate most of the hospital patients, Koenig says that ER business alone will not keep the hospital operating.

"We need to increase the number of elective admissions from the area," Koenig says.

Tenet bought the hospital from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, an order of Catholic nuns, that had reportedly lost millions keeping the Marina area hospital and its sister hospital, Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, afloat.

Tenet also owns Brotman Hospital in Culver City and Centinela Hospital in Inglewood.

GROUP VISIT — To promote the Marina area hospital to potential patients, hospital officials are beginning to bring groups in for special events and tours.

On Thursday, August 7th, members of the Venice-Marina Rotary Club were treated to a hospital-catered luncheon, presentation and tour of the facility.

The presentation was titled "Marina Sets Sail," indicating that the hospital may be embarking on an uncertain or possibly perilous journey.

Many of the Rotarians expressed their appreciation for the hospital and concern that the facility might not be there one day.

Several members told of receiving life-saving treatment at the Marina area hospital.

Koenig told the group that he wants to make the Marina area facility into a "bed-and-breakfast" hospital with private facilities and good service.

"We have a shot at stabilizing this hospital and growing it," Koenig said. "We want to be the best primary care facility that we can be."

UNDER CAPACITY — Whether the hospital will ever get to a state of total health — after years of decline that preceded Tenet's ownership — is still an open question, hospital officials admit.

Despite the ER increase, the overall patient load is only one-third of hospital capacity of 90 "acute-care" beds, according to Koenig.

When the hospital closure and sale were announced last year, officials said that the hospital had been operating at less than 50 percent capacity for several years.

Now, with the hospital operating at one-third of its capacity, its patient load may have fallen even further.

The hospital closed its skilled nursing wing about four months ago, according to Peter Aprato, hospital chief operating officer.

‘ELECTIVE' PATIENTS — Koenig says the hospital ER generates 85 to 90 percent of patients admitted to the facility.

And those are not satisfactory numbers for the hospital firm.

Hospital administrators want to reduce admissions from the ER to about 30 percent — the industry norm — by increasing the number of patients who "elect" to have their surgical or other major medical care at Marina.

"People in the area need to choose to come here," Koenig stressed.

The Marina area hospital is also funneling patients to other Tenet-owned facilities, including Brotman Hospital and Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, which have specialty "centers of excellence" for cancer, neurological and heart patients, Koenig says.

NUMBER ONE IN AREA — Koenig released to the Rotarians the results of a recent survey showing the Marina area hospital as one of the top five hospitals serving the immediate area, ranking number one — alongside Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center — with 12 percent of the market share.

UCLA Medical Center comes in third with 11 percent, while Saint John's Health Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center tied for fourth and fifth place, both with ten-percent market share.

But that's not good enough for Tenet, because 88 percent of area patients are going elsewhere, according to Koenig.

"We want greater penetration" into the market, Koenig says. "A successful hospital should have a 25 to 40 percent share of admissions from the area."

Koenig says the hospital needs to attract more patients for routine surgeries and other procedures, rather than relying on its emergency room to bring in business.

"We're doing well against the other players, but we should be doing better," he says.

BASIC REPAIRS — Tenet plans to spend $4 million this year for basic repairs and new equipment — including a new roof — and has launched a marketing program aimed at increasing the number of patients.

Koenig admits that $4 million won't make the hospital competitive with Santa Monica-UCLA, or St. John's, both of which are undergoing multimillion-dollar renovations paid for in large part by Federal Emergency Management Agency earthquake disaster funds.

MARKETING — The new management team, including a chief operating officer and a marketing manager, is working on plans for more public programs and offerings, including lectures and special events.

A recent health fair at the facility drew some 350 attendees and a mailing to local residents drew 200 people to visit the hospital to obtain special water bottles, according to Cyndee Woelfle, assistant director of business development for the Daniel Freeman hospitals.

The hospital is also rolling out a new program, "Premiere Advantage," offering senior citizens special deals at local drugstores and other benefits.

All these efforts to bring in patients might be summed up with another tag line: "Use it or lose it."