Pejman and Pedram Salimpour, two pediatrician brothers, have their hands full with their recent announcement that they were acquiring troubled 155-bed Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego.
The Salimpours, who left Iran during the height of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, are well-respected and deeply involved in the San Diego and Los Angeles medical and business communities. They own CareNex Health Services, an Encino, Calif.-based firm that provides patient management services to hospitals and health insurers. They also practice part-time in their Salimpour Pediatric Medical Group, where their father, internationally known medical researcher Ralph Salimpour, M.D., heads the practice.
"We are acquiring Alvarado Hospital because of its long history of providing excellent patient care, which makes it a valuable asset for the residents of San Diego," says Pejman Salimpour, M.D., 44, who also is professor of clinical pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine.
In 2005, Alvarado lost $15 million on operations, according to the American Hospital Directory, an online database. "We have carefully analyzed Alvarado's needs. We'd like to see Alvarado as a model healthcare facility for the San Diego community," Pejman Salimpour says. "We recognize the challenges that Alvarado has faced over the last few years, and we're committed to making the new Alvarado work for its patients, its doctors, nurses and the community." Four years ago, the U.S. Justice Department began investigating Alvarado's physician recruitment efforts, including the alleged payment of some physician relocation expenses in exchange for patient referrals. Two California juries were unable to reach a verdict in 2005 and 2006. Owner Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, agreed to sell Alvarado as part of a civil fraud settlement with HHS' inspector general's office. In October, Tenet signed an agreement to sell Alvarado for about $36.5 million to Plymouth Health, a company formed in 2006 by the Salimpours and a group of unidentified venture capital partners. The deal closed Dec. 31, 2006, with Tenet selling the hospital for pretax proceeds of $22.5 million. "The medical staff is enthusiastically looking forward to working with Plymouth" and the Salimpours, says Michael Butera, M.D., Alvarado's chief of medical staff, in a statement. Pejman Salimpour, CareNex's president, was appointed in 2006 to the National Advisory Council of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Pedram Salimpour, M.D., 37, CareNex's senior vice president, also is president-elect of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, and serves as a member of the board of the UCLA School of Public Health. "We always have to keep our eyes on the primary goal … the health and welfare of the people for whom we care," Pejman Salimpour says. "When we enter into a new venture, we define areas where we can truly make a difference in the quality of care we provide."
