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Despite Life Endangering COVID-19 Lack of Hospital Capacity, And $250,000 In Repairs LB Taxpayers Paid For With No Req't To Do So, Long Beach Community Hospital Remains Closed And Is Being Used As A Movie Filming Venue
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Despite Life Endangering COVID-19 Lack of Hospital Capacity, And $250,000 In Repairs LB Taxpayers Didn't Have to Pay For, Long Beach Community Hospital Remains Closed And Is Being Used As A Movie Filming Venue
City management blocks LBREPORT.com from questioning Mayor at "news conference," imposes these press restrictions
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(December 24, 2020, 12:25 p.m.) -- While Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia cited a life threatening lack of regional hospital capacity due to a COVID-19 case surge, the City-owned Long Beach Community Hospital -- leased to a for-profit entity (Molina, Wu, Network LLC) remained closed, lacking CA Dept. of Public Health approval to reopen, being used instead as filming venue.
Photos below, taken by LBREPORT.com on December 23, show a major filming set up, mainly concealed along Termino Ave. but visible from a dead-end street (Wilton Place.) behind the hospital.
On Dec. 23, most of the filming equipment was concealed from Termino Ave. but were visible from an adjacent small dead-end street
LBREPORT.com Dec. 23, 2020 photos
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On April 14, 2020, the Long Beach City Council cited COVID-19 urgency in voting without dissent to authorize allocating $250,000 in City taxpayer funds (offered from LB's 4th Council district budgeted funds) to have the City perform Community Hospital elevator repairs. City staff publicly acknowledged in its agendizing memo that the elevator repairs were an item MWM was supposed to pay for under its lease with the City. The Council voted action didn't specify any terms for reimbursement by MWN of the quarter million dollars sum to LB taxpayers. City staff's agendizing memo stated in pertinent part: "The City would be making these repairs effectively as an advance to MWN with the understanding that MWN and the City will work together to secure reimbursement to the City for these costs from the State or other sources. However, there is no assurance of reimbursement."
As of dawn December 24, 2020, Community Hospital of Long Beach remains closed (since 2018 under a prior operator), with MWN seeking but -- for reasons not piublicly disclosed by any elected official of the City of Long Beach or spokesperson for MWN -- not yet granted a license to reopen by the CA Dept. of Public Health.
An April 8. 2020 City of Long Beach release described MWN as "a partnership between Pacific6 Enterprises, co-founded by former Molina Healthcare CEO John Molina; AHMC Healthcare, a privately held hospital corporation founded by Jonathan Wu; and Network Medical Management, which provides administrative support to medical groups and physicians."
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So were the elevator repairs performed? Responding to an inquiry from LBREPORT.com, Brandon Dowling, Communications Director for Pacific6 Enterprises, said in a Dec 23 evening email: "The $250,000 in elevator repairs was paid by the City of Long Beach and invoiced to the City of Long Beach. No money was ever 'given’ to MWN and we were never invoiced for the services." [LBREPORT.com doesn't have dates and other details yet but will follow-up with city staff on Dec. 28 and report additional information as newsworthy..]
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On July 17, 2020, the City's Director of Economic Development, John Keisler, told LBREPORT.com via email that, quote, "the anticipated surge in hospital visits related to COVID-19 did not materialize, and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) no longer required the use of Community Hospital for patient transfers."
However officials say the current (and worsening) COVID-19 surge has now left regional hospital capacity at a level nearing zero percent...while Community Hospital remains closed without explanation by City or MWN officials of exactly what issue(s) remain unresolved, by whom and why.
On December 23, city staff blocked efforts by LBREPORT.com to ask Mayor Garcia about his specific actions in dealing with the CA Dept. of Public Health -- an agency run by CA Gov. Gavin Newsom. For reasons not made public by City or MWN, the CA Dept. of Public Health has continued thus far to deny approval to reopen the hospital.
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On December 23, city management notified media outlets including LBREPORT.com that Mayor Garcia and Director of Health and Human Services Kelly Colopy would provide updated information on a variety of coronavirus-related issues. It stated: "Please note that only one question per reporter will be allowed at today’s press briefing. [emphasis in orihinsl] Follow-up questions may be addressed via email."
Reporters were told they could ask questions in advance by email [reminiscent of the former Soviet era when officials demanded questions in writing allowing someone else to feed reporters a polished answer) or a live question requiring an RSVP email. LBREPORT.com complied with the RSVP request and noted that we sought to participate via telephone. Roughly two hours later, a city staffer contacted us, first contending that telephone questions weren't possible using Web-X (untrue), then simply reciting in mechanical fashion that city staff (who?) had decided not to allow telephone questions.
Follow-up efforts by LBREPORT.com to arrange a short telephone phoner with Mayor Garcia were unproductive, his Chief of Staff, Diana Tang, not responding to voice mail and email requests by us.
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City management also stymied LBREPORT.com's request for information about the specific filming permit (such as the date of its application and the date of its approval) from its office of Special Events and Filming. On Dec. 23, LBREPORT.com phoned at midmorning seeking this information and was informed an individual handling filming matters would call us, which never happened. When LBREPORT.com pursued the matter at late afternoon, another individual in the office said no one was available to answer our questions.
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The filming at the Community Hospital site wasn't a secret. Councilman Daryl Supernaw cited it in his December 18 weekly newsletter...without mentioning the $250,000 taxpayer cost that his April 14 motion had authorized or the COVID-19 lack of available hospital facilities. "December 21st | 7 am - 10 pm | 1720 Termino Ave.: Filming will take place at 1720 Termino Ave. Filming will consist of interior dialogue on ground floor and 3rd floor. Interior dialogue in hallway with talent watching Veronica talk to doctor, in a hospital room, in the maternity ward waiting room and psych ward hallway. December 23rd...Filming will consist of interior dialogue/walk and talk on 2nd & 3rd floors and walk and talk down a hallway."
Pacific6's Business Journal reporter asked Mayor Garcia if all the state requirements to reopen Community Hospital have been met and if not what still needs to be completed and what is the City doing to pressure the state to open up the facility immediately? [The reporter didn't seek names or other specifics, which effectively let Garcia respond as other officials have done for months: refer to what they're "told" or they "understand" (with no details from whom or from what source(s)) and blame the outcome to "the state" (again no names or specifics.) In part of his answer, Mayor Garcia cites a "final check list" of items, but what items are they? Does he know? And if not how does he know they're "minor"? Who's his source for this, by name? To hear Mayor Garcia's response, click here.
Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.
