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Physicians band together to reopen Chinatown hospital as urgent care facility
The 89,000-square-foot facility had operated as Pacific Alliance Medical Center until December
When Pacific Alliance Medical Center announced in October that its Chinatown location would be closing, residents in the surrounding community expressed concern over losing the neighborhood’s only hospital.
Those concerns became reality when the facility, located at 531 W. College Street, closed on Dec. 11. The ownership group, La Societe Francaise de Bienfaisance Mutuelle De Los Angel, cited financial reasons for the move.
Now, a team of physicians calling themselves Allied Pacific wants to reopen the 89,000-square-foot hospital as a 24-hour urgent care facility.
The new urgent care building would allow for cardiology, ophthalmology, diabetes and other health services, the Los Angeles Times reported. AHMC Healthcare, which operates five hospitals already, is partnering with Allied for the bid.
Before it closed, the hospital had been operating at massive annual losses, the owners said. In 2015, it lost $53 million and the next year, $44 million. California law would have also required the owners to retrofit the facilities by 2030, a costly endeavor for a struggling hospital.
La Societe Francaise acquired the property for an unspecified amount in December 1999.
PAMC Ltd, operating as Pacific Alliance Medical Center, also owns the neighboring facility at 711 W. College Street. That building is about 66,000 square feet, according to records.
Bids were due last week. But it was not known when the winner will be announced. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman