Press Release: Daughters of Charity’s Prime Bidder Not First Choice for Nurses
December 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2014
Daughters of Charity's Prime Bidder Not First Choice for Nurses
Attorney General Holds Public Hearing to Review Sale of St. Francis Medical Center
LYNWOOD, CA- The registered nurses of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood announced their opposition to the sale of their hospital and its parent Daughters of Charity Health System (DCHS) to Prime Healthcare on October 10. Nurses demanded that vital services such as trauma, labor and delivery, heart attack and the stroke unit remain open for a period of at least ten years from the date of assuming ownership. Prime’s plan is to keep the trauma center open for five years.
“We’re here to save lives and advocate for our patients. A person having a heart attack has a 90 minute window to survive. How far will they have to go to get the urgent care they need and where are mothers in this community supposed to go to deliver their babies?” said Scott Byington, RN, President of St. Francis Registered Nurses Association (SFRNA).
“We stand behind the nurses who have served this community for the last 69 years,” said Ken Deitz, RN, UNAC/UHCP President. “When King-Harbor closed in 2007, St. Francis became the only hospital in the Southern Los Angeles area to serve a population with high numbers of severe trauma patients, such as gunshot victims. Going to a different trauma center farther away, such as Long Beach Memorial, could mean the difference between life and death for too many patients. Even one life lost is too many for the St. Francis nurses.”
“Prime has a dismal track record of putting profits over patient health and safety. So as patient advocates, we are obliged to challenge this acquisition at every level,” said Denise Duncan, RN, Executive Vice President of UNAC/UHCP. “St. Francis is a vital safety net institution in an underserved community.”
Attorney General Kamala Harris has scheduled a public hearing to review the sale of St. Francis on Monday, January 5 at 10 a.m. at the Lynwood Bateman Hall. SFRNA and community members are urged to attend the public hearing and oppose the sale of the hospital.
Daughters of Charity Health System’s Southern California hospitals include St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles and St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where UNAC/UHCP represents 800 registered nurses.
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The St. Francis Registered Nurses Association (SFRNA) is an affiliate of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP).