Daughters of Charity aims to buy Calif. facility

The Daughters of Charity Health System has entered exclusive negotiations to purchase a bankrupt not-for-profit hospital in Downey, Calif., that serves southeast Los Angeles County, the two organizations said.

Daughters of Charity, a six-hospital Roman Catholic system based in Los Altos Hills, Calif., has received notice that officials for 181-bed Downey Regional Medical Center have approved a letter of intent for affiliation with the system.

A news release from Daughters of Charity says Downey Regional filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last September, and then began to consider affiliations with a number of systems, ultimately resulting in the Feb. 2 decision to negotiate exclusively with Daughters of Charity.

Rob Fuller, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Downey Regional, said in a written statement that the affiliation process may last several more months, because of the complexity of the transaction and the requirements of the bankruptcy courts.

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