The outline of the Madera Community Hospital sign and crest on the main buildings of the hospital on Jan. 2, 2023. The sign was removed after the hospital announced its closure due to bankruptcy pushing the county into a state of emergency. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight LocalSeveral hospitals have warned that they are struggling financially after the strains of the pandemic. A new loan program, if approved, could offer short-term relief.
at the start of this year, which left this San Joaquin Valley county of 160,000 people without a local emergency room.“This bill, this money, will keep them open long enough to be able to perhaps sell, regroup, whatever, but they will keep their doors open,” Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Cerritos Democrat whose district includes Montebello, said on the Senate floor.
“This bill, this money, will keep them open long enough to be able to perhaps sell, regroup, whatever, but they will keep their doors open.”It’s not clear exactly how many hospitals could qualify and how much each will get, according to officials from the state Department of Finance who testified in a budget committee hearing earlier this week. That will be determined by the agencies in charge, who will have to create eligibility criteria for these loans.
“We don’t know how many hospitals, we don’t know which hospitals. We don’t know which areas those hospitals are , we don’t know anything. And now we’re asked to approve $150 million to be doled out without access to plans, without access to the finances that would give us the evidence to feel comfortable with this,” said Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat, during a Senate budget committee hearing on Tuesday.