Olympia Medical Center was sold to UCLA Health last year. (photo by Cameron Kiszla)

The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission held a virtual public hearing on Jan. 27 to consider the closure of Olympia Medical Center, which has announced that it will discontinue services after March 31. At the end of the hearing, the commission recommended a six-month delay in the closure.

The public hearing was required for informational purposes for the county and to provide an opportunity for interested citizens to comment. The commission’s recommendations are nonbinding and will be sent to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for consideration.

Olympia Medical Center, which is operated by Olympia Healthcare LLC, a subsidiary of Irvine-based Alecto Health Services, sold the property at 5900 Olympic Blvd. to UCLA Health for an undisclosed amount. UCLA Health has announced plans to renovate the medical center’s campus and possibly convert it into a facility specializing in mental and behavioral health services.

Attorney Michael Sarrao, who identified himself as executive vice president of Olympia Healthcare LLC, said the sale of the hospital had been under consideration for at least a year to 18 months. It was strictly a business decision to address difficulties with profitability, he said.

Despite reports of the COVID-19 pandemic straining health care services nationwide, Sarrao said Olympia Medical Center has not experienced a significant increase in patient volumes. The daily number of patients at Olympia Medical Center remains at approximately 60-70, he said. The number of COVID-19 patients being treated was not specified. Although Olympia is a 204-bed medical center, the hospital does not offer many specialties including pediatrics, trauma care, heart care and treatment for sexual assault victims, and thus does not experience the number of patients served at larger hospitals such as Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, Sarrao said.

“We made a decision to suspend the services as of March 31 as part of our transaction with UCLA Health. We provided the notices that were required on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, and that 90-day period is March 31,” Sarrao said. “UCLA Health has bought the real estate, they will be submitting plans to the state. The contemplation is that we would suspend our license and UCLA Health [will be] submitting those plans.”

The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, which was represented in the hearing by Assistant Director Ricard Tadeo, prepared a report on the hospital’s closure that indicates it will have a negative effect on the surrounding communities including the Miracle Mile, Mid-City, Larchmont and Fairfax communities, as well as the cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The report stated that Olympia Medical Center served 25,134 patients in 2019, or an average of 69 patients per day, which corresponded with Sarrao’s assessment. However, the closure of the hospital will place a greater burden on surrounding medical centers including Cedars-Sinai, according to the report. It will also result in longer travel times and possible delays in receiving emergency medical services, and will leave a gap in the ability to provide medical services in case of a disaster.

Cathy Chichester, director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services Agency, said the agency is opposed to the closure and referred to a letter sent to Olympia Medical Center’s owners on Jan. 11 outlining her concerns.

“The county is in the middle of a crisis due to the effects of COVID-19, which has led to extensive wait times for ambulances to offload patients in local emergency departments, delays in patient care due to a shortage of locations to place sick individuals and the potential implementation of crisis care due to inadequate hospital resources,” Chichester’s letter read. “The voluntary closure of Olympia Medical Center during this crisis is irresponsible and will cause future hardship on the health care system.”

Others also expressed concern, including Doug Zabilski, a battalion chief in the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Emergency Services Bureau.

“In 2020, we transported 4,412 patients to Olympia. Our overall transports are down in 2020, largely due to [people’s fears] of catching COVID in the hospital. In 2019, that number was 5,067,” Zabilski said. “That’s an awful lot for surrounding hospitals to have to absorb. Every time we lose a 911 receiving facility, you have an obvious collateral impact on surrounding receiving hospitals, which means longer transport times.”

Jennifer Lemmon, Southern California director of the California Nurses Association, denounced the closure and said it will have an adverse impact on public health.

“We are absolutely incensed that Alecto Healthcare Services has proposed closing Olympia Medical Center in the middle of a pandemic that has left health care workers scrambling to address the ongoing need for medical care,” Lemmon said. “Olympic Medical Center has a long history of providing care for some of the most vulnerable in Los Angeles and has done so for the last 74 years. Our members and other health care workers were shocked to learn about Alecto’s intention to close the hospital.”

Lemmon said the decision to close Olympia Medical Center was made with a lack of transparency, and employees only learned about it when they arrived for work on Dec. 31 and saw a posted notice. Approximately 450 employees are now trying to determine what the future will hold for them, Lemmon added.

Shenita Anderson, who works in the emergency room at Olympia Medical Center, is opposed to the hospital’s closure. (photo courtesy of Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission)

Others also cited a lack of transparency, including nurse Shenita Anderson, who works in the emergency room at Olympia Medical Center.

“You can imagine how shocked, angered and appalled I was when I saw the notice that Alecto was voluntarily seeking to close down the hospital in the middle of a pandemic. It’s literally killing thousands of people in Los Angeles … and also is devastating, disproportionately, the lives of Black and brown people. I believe that closing Olympia Medical could lead to an increase in unnecessary death.”

Members of the community also voiced opposition, including Conrad Starr, secretary of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council and president of the Sycamore Square Neighborhood Association.

“Certainly, we have lots of concerns. I have been a patient in the emergency room at Olympia Medical Center and I have taken neighbors there,” added Starr, who stressed he was speaking as a private citizen because the neighborhood organizations had yet to formally consider the closure. “One thing I did want to bring up … is emergency preparedness. One of the things we are concerned about is 50,000 predicted [to be]  injured after the Big One. We need to be preparing capacity, not reducing capacity, right now.”

Members of the commission also expressed reservations and many said further analysis of impacts is needed. Comments provided at the hearing will be included in an impact evaluation report by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency that will be presented to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors sometime after March 1, as well as the California Department of Public Health.

Tadeo said it remains unclear what impact the hearing will have or what public officials will be able to do to prevent the closure, as it resulted from a private real estate sale.

“They can’t overturn it,” Tadeo said. “We’ll compile a report and send it to the board and the California Department of Public Health, but they don’t have the legal authority to overturn a closure. This is really just about providing public notice.”

After March 1, the report will be available for public review by visiting dhs.lacounty.gov/emergency-medical-services-agency.