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Uninsured-treatment costs may force L.A.-area ED to close

Quality Improvement Monitor, August 4, 2005

Costs of treating the uninsured may force a Los Angeles County hospital to close its ED, which would make it the 10th hospital to do so since 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported August 3.

The 199-bed Downey (CA) Regional Medical Center would be the largest ED to close, the newspaper reported. The hospital lost between $7 million and $11 million last year because of its overall ED services, Robert Fuller, the hospital's chief operating officer, told the Times.

In the past five years, half of a $60 million surplus has gone to treat the uninsured, Fuller said.

Los Angeles County has lost EDs that have treated close to 136,000 patients a year, the Times reported. Downey Regional treated 46,307 patients in the ED last year, the paper said.

Hospitals in nearby Bellflower and Whittier would have to handle Downey Regional's emergency patients if the ED closes, the <i>Times</i> reported.

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