The Lynwood City Council has directed its staff to explore the purchase of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. The city was approached by a management team—SFMC Investment Group—to partner in the effort. SFMC is led by doctors working at the hospital.
St. Francis is the largest health care facility serving southeast Los Angeles County. It is one of six hospitals owned by Verity Health Care which recently filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Federal Court. The city believes that saving and preserving St. Francis Hospital is a critical objective for the city and the entire region.
City officials stressed that any decision that is made on any acquisition of the hospital will not impact the city’s general fund nor will it affect any of the services the city provides including public safety, street maintenance, recreation and community services or any other basic municipal services
St. Francis is an extremely busy and important health care center. In any given year at St. Francis over 5,000 babies are born, 80,000 emergency room patients are treated, and 2,000 traumas are addressed. The city believes that preserving and improving the quality of the operation is a critical objective for the city and the entire region.