NBC 4
Clinic Closures Leave Patients Stranded
Heart Center Under Investigation
POSTED: 10:09 a.m. PST December 4, 2003
UPDATED: 3:21 p.m. PST December 5, 2003

 

LOS ANGELES -- Several hospital clinics are shutting their doors Friday, leaving local patients stranded.
Patients Worry As Clinics Close


The closure of the heart failure center at the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, Calif., will leave up to 60 patients searching for care at another location. Another 700 patients who use the hospital's fitness center will also be forced to search for alternatives.

Community advocates said the elimation of the essential programs offered at the center could result in the permanent closure of the hospital.

The hospital lies in the center of a community with a high rate of cardiovascular mortality.

Three L.A. area hospitals, including Daniel Freeman hospital's heart center, are being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office for certain procedures and billing practices, according to Steven Campanini spokesman for Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

Hospital officials said the closure is not related to the current investigation. They attributed the closure to ongoing difficult circumstances facing health care.

Patients, politicians and activists rallied Wednesday night to protest plans that would close the clinic.

Rose Strange, a heart patient, said, "I don't know where I'm supposed to go to complete the treatment that I have, that I'm midway between. Certainly Centinela is there, but that cardiac rehabilitation center is also being closed."