Catalina Island’s only hospital, which has for years battled financial troubles, has received a temporary lifeline.
Earlier this month, Catalina Island Health, the nonprofit that runs the 12-bed Catalina Island Medical Center in Avalon, received an emergency $2 million grant from L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan, which serves roughly 2.6 million members in Los Angeles County.
Without this cash infusion, Catalina Island Health was looking at possibly closing the hospital at the end of this fiscal year in June. The additional funds will now keep the hospital open at least through December.
While Catalina Island has only about 4,000 permanent residents – mostly in Avalon – more than 1 million tourists each year flock to the island via ferries, private boats or aircraft, according to the Love Catalina Island Tourism Authority’s website. The island is part of Los Angeles County; with the exception of the city of Avalon, it is unincorporated territory.
For more than a century, there has been only one functioning hospital or hospital-like facility on the island, providing emergency care to visitors and both scheduled procedures and emergency care to permanent residents.
Like many rural hospital operators throughout the state, Catalina Island Health has encountered financial woes in recent years, thanks to a combination of sharply rising labor and drug costs and low government reimbursement rates for care, especially for patients in the state’s Medi-Cal program for low-income residents.
“Over the past five years, CIH has experienced a $14.5 million net loss in providing services to Medi-Cal patients,” said Jason Paret, the nonprofit’s chief executive. In the fiscal year ending last June that loss was $2.26 million, he added.
Paret said Catalina Island Health’s fiscal woes have been exacerbated by its nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, which he said makes the hospital ineligible for the level of Medi-Cal reimbursements that most other hospitals receive.
Paret said that if Catalina Island Medical Center were forced to close, the impacts would be catastrophic on several fronts.
“For those requiring emergency care, the closure of CIH could be catastrophic, forcing delay in care and costly, time-consuming medevac flights to the mainland,” Paret said. “This is especially concerning in situations involving heart attack, stroke, or major trauma when care during the ‘golden hour’ can mean the difference between life and death.”
The situation would be just as dire for the permanent residents who use the facility for routine medical care and therapy, he added.
“A lack of medical facilities on the island would force them to travel to the mainland for every medical procedure and appointment, which would be very time-consuming and expensive,” he said.
Faced with such dire scenarios, Paret said that Catalina Island Health has been trying for months to find another hospital operator to acquire the fiscally ailing hospital. Earlier this year, the Catalina Islander newspaper reported that a plan was in the works to have the UC hospital system take over the Catalina Island Medical Center. But when asked, Paret did not mention this potential deal when he said Catalina Island Health was seeking an acquisition partner.
With no deal apparently imminent, Paret approached L.A. Care about the possibility of a grant.
L.A. Care provides insurance coverage for more than 700 of the island’s 4,000 residents, making it a stakeholder in the hospital’s ongoing viability.
