Palo Verde Hospital, which is bankrupt and managed by county officials, meets all federal quality and patient safety standards for serving Blythe and other remote communities in eastern Riverside County, it was announced earlier this month.
The “critical access hospital” has received full national accreditation for three years from DNV Healthcare USA Inc., which the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have authorized to evaluate hospital compliance, according to the Palo Verde Healthcare District.
The accreditation followed several on-site surveys over a period of months, during which hospital staff addressed findings and implemented changes to meet federal standards. Annual follow-up surveys are required to maintain the certification, which is the first earned under the bailout agreement between the Palo Verde Healthcare District and Riverside County.
The county Board of Supervisors directed managers from the Riverside University Health System Medical Center on-site in February to provide operational support across hospital departments.
“The Palo Verde Healthcare District is grateful for the collaboration with the County of Riverside and RUHS, and for their support in helping the hospital achieve accreditation,” Carmela Garnica, president of the Palo Verde Healthcare District Board of Directors, said in a statement. “PVH is an important part of our community because it gives people access to healthcare close to home.”
Palo Verde Hospital is the only medical facility serving the local region that stretches to the Arizona border. Without emergency services at the hospital, more than 20,000 residents would lose access to timely medical treatment for life-threatening emergencies. The nearest option for emergency healthcare is over 70 miles away and a drive of nearly two hours.
In February, the Board of Supervisors OK’d a six-month plan to stabilize the hospital’s finances and start technical improvement projects intended to get the facility into a sustainable state.
Officials extended the agreement three months on July 29.
The board authorized $3.44 million from the county’s General Fund as payment to the California Department of Health Services on behalf of the Palo Verde Healthcare District. That followed a $1 million General Fund disbursal directly benefiting the hospital’s day-to-day operation that was the centerpiece of a stabilization loan intended to keeping the facility open.
According to the district, the county’s financial bailout enabled the PVHD to gain taxpayer-backed credit available through California’s Medi-Cal program totaling $9.9 million. The hospital later received a $3 million state grant that followed $1.8 million in aid from the federal government, according to the county.
The city of Blythe also contributed $330,000 to the hospital.
A county’s “strike team” of RUHS medical professionals on Feb. 23 began the effort to stabilize the hospital’s emergency department.
