85.7 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Mission Hospital In Partnership

Mission Community Hospital will have new owners after a recently formed, privately held limited liability company completes a three-year, multi-step process of acquiring the hospital. The hospital’s board of directors chose to work with Long Beach-based Deanco Healthcare LLC to maintain and expand the hospital’s services after years of financial struggle, which was worsened by the recession, an official of the Panorama City-based hospital said. “If we had the investments to build out the space and secure the services, then we would actually be able to provide more to the community,” said Heidi Lennartz, the hospital’s CEO. “We were just very cash strapped. I think the impact of federal and state funding reductions and unfunded mandates have really had an effect on our revenue over the last 10 years.” The partnership, which became effective June 1, will begin with consulting services, progress into a management agreement and end with the transfer of the hospital’s assets for a purchase price of $37.8 million, Lennartz said. Deanco Healthcare LLC has committed to retaining the hospital’s management team, medical staff, employees and services. The acquisition will also include the hospital’s San Fernando campus, which houses a community dental clinic and a diabetes education and prevention project. The hospital, which was founded in 1974, will eventually lose its nonprofit status through the completed transfer. A fresh start Lennartz said the hospital’s board of directors decided a couple of years ago to start searching for a new owner and eventually considered four candidates. Deanco Healthcare LLC was chosen because of its willingness to maintain and build on the hospital’s strengths. “They weren’t going to deconstruct the services and the service levels that were already here,” Lennartz said. “They were committed to maintaining the existing services and then building upon those.” The limited liability company, headed by a team of professionals with a history of working in and with the medical industry, was designed last fall for the purpose of acquiring Mission Community Hospital, said David J. Herman, the company’s chairman and managing member. Herman is also a partner at Herman & Chamow Certified Public Accountants in Beverly Hills, though he said the companies are not related. The team considered several projects to pursue but eventually chose Mission Community Hospital for its first venture. The company’s founding team includes a real estate developer who has developed numerous medical properties and accountants who work with clients in the medical field. The company has also contracted with physicians as consultants. “This hospital is somewhat under-utilized,” he said. “What we were able to do is introduce to the board some initiatives that we could oversee that would raise revenue to the top line and also to the bottom line. … We’re trying to increase the services to the community.” Upgrading facility The company plans to upgrade the hospital’s medical office building and bring its north patient tower back into use. It also plans to maintain and build on the hospital’s services, which include offering its charity care program for uninsured patients. Herman said the acquisition will work more like a partnership than anything else. “What we’re trying to do is add value to the current team that’s running the hospital,” he said. “We’re kind of looking at our opportunity as an overlay to the existing administration and management.” While Mission Community Hospital is the only acquisition venture the company has pursued so far, Herman said his team is looking at future opportunities for expansion.

Featured Articles

Related Articles