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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Kaiser, Dignity Make Surge Hospital

Gov. Gavin Newsom, with the help of Los Angeles County and health care systems Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health look to ease capacity concerns with a state-funded surge hospital in Los Angeles. Formerly St. Vincent Medical Center, the Los Angeles Surge Hospital at 3111 Florence Ave. in Huntington Park is expected to open April 13 with 266 beds and expanded ICU capacity for patients with COVID-19. Kaiser and Dignity will jointly manage the facility, according to a statement from the county – without diminishing each system’s existing frontline capacity. Both nonprofit health care systems have sites in the San Fernando Valley area, with Kaiser in Woodland Hills and Panorama City and Dignity facilities in Glendale and Northridge. The state will be responsible for obtaining federal and state permits, licenses and waivers and will work to have an adequate supply of personal protective equipment and ventilators. L.A. County will coordinate intake and transfer requests from hospitals within its limits. The county had 7,530 cases of COVID-19 and 198 deaths as of April 8. Julie Sprengel, president of Dignity Health’s southwest division, will serve as acting chief executive for the facility. Kaiser’s Dr. David Quam will be chief medical officer and resident nurse Jason Black, formerly of Dignity, will be chief nursing executive. Black was chief operating officer at Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center until June, according to LinkedIn. “Beating this pandemic requires all of us to work together, nimbly and creatively, and there is no better proof of that than our collective work to stand up this surge hospital in a matter of days,” Greg Adams, chief executive of Kaiser, said in a statement. “This temporary hospital will add much needed resources to help us safely meet the needs of an expected surge of patients affected by this pandemic.” “We have worked with each of these partners over time, and this groundbreaking collaboration will help meet the urgent demand for health care services in California,” added Lloyd Dean, chief executive of CommonSpirit Health, which includes Dignity Health hospitals. The site will act as a referral hospital, according to a statement from the county, and will not have an emergency room or accept walk-in patients.

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