Press Release: Nurses Say Patient Care at Stake With Sale of Hospital to Prime Healthcare

October 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2014

NURSES SAY PATIENT CARE AT STAKE WITH SALE OF HOSPITAL TO PRIME HEALTHCARE

LOS ANGELES, CA—The Registered Nurses of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood strongly oppose the sale, announced Friday, of their hospital and its parent Daughters of Charity Health System to Prime Healthcare, a notorious for-profit Ontario-based firm.

“As a Registered Nurse who has worked for St. Francis Medical Center over 28 years, my heart is heavy with the realization that the Daughters of Charity did not honor the values they imparted on nurses,” said Sandi Marques, RN, longtime member of the St. Francis Registered Nurses’ Association (SFRNA). “They have made a deal with the devil. Prime Healthcare has shown over and over that they value profit over care in communities like ours. Shame on DCHS.”

The sale must be approved by Attorney General Kamala Harris, who in September 2011 denied approval for the sale of Victor Valley Community Hospital to Prime Healthcare System, stating the sale would not be in the public interest.

“Prime has a dismal track record of putting profits over patient health and safety. So as patients’ advocates, we are obliged to challenge this acquisition at every level,” said Ken Deitz, RN, President of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, of which SFRNA is an affiliate.

The Daughters of Charity System includes St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles and St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, as well as hospitals in San Jose, Gilroy, Daly City and Moss Beach and the statewide DCHS Medical Foundation. The sale would include St. Francis Medical Center in the city of Lynwood where UNAC/UHCP represents 800 registered nurses.