News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT

December 1, 2003 Janice Taylor

323-295-9372 x 21

Cell: 323-630-4247

Janice@chc-inc.org

Patients and Community Ask Attorney General to Stop Closure of Heart Programs by Tenet Healthcare

Ministers Holding Prayer Vigil at Daniel Freeman Hospital on Tuesday

Town Hall Meeting with Attorney General on Wednesday

Los Angeles, CA Racing against time, doctors, patients, ministers and community leaders in south Los Angeles are holding rallies and a Town Hall Meeting to stop the closure of heart clinics at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital operated by Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The community is asking the Attorney General to halt the closures until a community planning process has been satisfied and federal investigations are complete.

Tenet is the subject of several state and federal investigations into unnecessary heart surgeries. The hospital chain will close its Cardiac Rehabilitation, Pacemaker, and Congestive Heart Failure Clinics and Rehabilitation Fitness Center at Daniel Freeman on December 5^th.

PPatients throughout ~~from all over~~ Los Angeles depend on ~~use~~ the outpatient health programs and fitness center that ~~being closed by~~ Tenet has targeted for shutdown. “I drive 40 miles round trip to get to Daniel Freeman,” says Elaine Modieste. “I could barely walk when I started at the Fitness Center. This is the only place I can get care like this. People in wheelchairs and walkers use this fitness center. It’s not like going to the Y. This is a safe environment. The staff know what they’re doing. The Fitness Center is a jewel.”

Tenet purchased Daniel Freeman in 2001. Under the terms of the original sale of the then non-profit hospital to Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Tenet was ordered by the Attorney General to conduct a comprehensive planning process and solicit public input or consult with community-based organizations prior to eliminating services. Community advocates say this has not taken place. It is feared that the continued elimination of programs will ~~will~~ result in the eventual closure of the hospital. The hospital serves a community that suffers the county’s highest rate of cardiovascular disease~~in the county~~.

Approximately 55-80 patients are currently in care under the cardiac heart failure program and more than 700 use the hospital’s fitness center. Over 150 demonstrators expressed their outrage at the loss of the center at a rally last Tuesday. “It’s more than just a fitness center,” said Ross Strange. “It provides a sense of community, a place to gather to share experiences with people who have similar health issues. The staff encourages you and keeps your spirits up.”

Still, Tenet Healthcare plans to close the programs for cardiac failure and rehabilitation patients by the end of the week, leaving many patients without services in the middle of treatment for acute conditions. The scheduled shutdown follows Tenet’s previous closure of the cathetarization lab and heart program at Daniel Freeman as part of a consolidation plan with Centinela Hospital. ~~Since then it has shut down the cath lab and heart program at Daniel Freeman as part of a consolidation plan with Centinela Hospital.~~ ~~Tenet plans to close the programs for cardiac failure and rehabilitation patients by December 5~~^th~~, leaving many patients without services in the middle of treatment for an acute condition. Approximately 55-80 patients are currently in care under the cardiac heart failure program.~~

Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital lies in the heart of a community with a high rate of cardiovascular mortality. Heart disease ranked as the leading cause of ~~death~~ mortality in 1999, accounting for 32.5% of all deaths. The surrounding community is largely African American and Latino. African Americans die from heart disease at a rate that is 40% greater than for whites.

“Tenet says it is building a center of excellence for cardiac care at Centinela Hospital. But by cutting out the heart rehab and fitness centers, they are giving the community a second-rate program. Patients that would stay healthy and out of the hospital, enter a revolving door. They become part of a heart surgery mill, and Tenet makes millions out of the high rate of heart disease in the community,” ~~according to~~explains Lark Galloway-Gilliam, Executive Director of Community Health Councils. As patient Ross Strange put it, “Tenet is robbing the community of a great resource. No other services are available to bring people back into the mainstream to lead happy, healthy, productive lives.”