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Hospital considers closing emergency room in Inglewood
| Monday, Aug 28 2006 5:15 AM
Last Updated: Monday, Aug 28 2006 5:15 AM
A hospital that has faced a series of financial setbacks is considering closing its emergency room, potentially forcing thousands of additional patients onto another emergency unit about 1 1/2 miles away.
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Centinela Freeman HealthSystem said it will decide within 30 days whether to shut the emergency room at its Memorial campus, leaving only its Centinela unit operating in the working-class city.
It would be the ninth emergency room to close in Los Angeles County in recent years and the prospect could be "devastating," said Carol Meyer, director of the county's emergency medical services agency.
"This is going to be the biggest one yet," she said of the closures.
"These are tough decisions," said Michael A. Rembis, president and chief executive of the health system. "We are losing a lot of sleep over this. We're going to do what we believe is best for the community."
Memorial, formerly known as Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, has a long record of financial losses. It has had three owners in the past five years.
Its emergency room treated about 38,000 patients in its emergency room last year. Centinela treated about the same number, but it has room to handle more, officials said.
If the plan goes forward, the hospital system said it would add two new urgent care centers at Memorial and Centinela, with extended hours to increase access to urgent and primary care services.
The health system said a consulting firm found that nearly two-thirds of the emergency room patients at Memorial and Centinela were treated for non-life-threatening conditions.
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