Adventist Health on Friday announced it is no longer considering taking over the closed Madera Community Hospital.
“Adventist Health was unable to find a fiscally viable solution for the costly process of reopening and operating a closed facility,” a news release stated, “especially given the limited financial resources available and the current economic pressures facing rural and safety-net providers.”
The hospital network issued a letter of intent to take over the hospital in July. Madera Community closed at the beginning of the year.
$52 Million to Reopen Madera Hangs in the Balance
Two suitors still remain to take over the operations of Madera Community, said Riley Walter, the attorney handling the bankruptcy proceedings.
Reopening the hospital and would take a $30 million grant, according to a financial study commissioned by the Madera County Board of Supervisors.
Madera Hospital qualified for a $2 million bridge loan from the state of California to cover operational costs in August. The state also made available $50 million to whichever hospital network would reopen the hospital.
Sen. Caballero Responds to Pullout
“I was disappointed to learn that a potential partnership with Adventist Health was no longer an option at this time for Madera Community Hospital’s plan to reopen,” said state Sen. Anna Caballero in a statement to GV Wire.
“While this latest turn of events is disheartening, I remain steadfast in my commitment to see restored health access for the residents of Madera.”
Second Suitor to Reject Operating the Hospital
In December 2022, the corporate parent of Fresno’s Saint Agnes Medical Center called off a tentative agreement to operate Madera Community.
That decision to not proceed came a week after state Attorney General Rob Bonta said that he had cleared the decks for the hospital to be purchased and operated by Trinity Health.
However, leaders at Saint Agnes said that conditions imposed by Bonta for the agreement to move forward halted the effort to rescue the financially stressed Madera hospital.
“Trinity Health, Saint Agnes, and Madera entered into this process with every intention of reaching a positive outcome. Unfortunately, given the complex circumstances and the additional conditions imposed by the AG … it became clear we could not move forward,” said Nancy Hollingsworth, president and CEO for Saint Agnes, at the time.
In September 2022, GV Wire reported that an effort by Caballero (D-Merced) and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals) had secured $5 million in state funding to keep Madera Community open.
According to a joint statement from the lawmakers, the $5 million was intended to “guarantee that the facility stays open until a merger with Trinity Health … is concluded.”
The nonprofit hospital, which opened in 1971, has 106 inpatient beds.
