California Attorney General Rob Bonta waived the notice and consent requirements in the Corporations Code for the transfer of control of St. Rose Hospital, a California private nonprofit corporation, and Saint Rose Medical Building, Inc. to the Alameda Health System (AHS). The waiver allows the hospital and building to come under the control of AHS. Under California law, any transaction involving the sale or transfer of control of a healthcare facility owned by a nonprofit corporation must secure the approval of, or waiver of notice and consent of, the Attorney General.
“At the California Department of Justice, our primary responsibility in reviewing healthcare transactions is to protect the people of California,” said Attorney General Bonta. “With today’s waiver, I am confident that AHS will provide continued access to high-quality, affordable healthcare to our most indigent and vulnerable Californians within the Hayward community.”
St. Rose Hospital is a general acute care hospital that is licensed for 171 beds with a 24/7 emergency department, critical care and ICU beds, cardiac services, labor and delivery, medical/surgical services, sub-acute/skilled nursing services, and mammography services. AHS is an integrated public health care system located entirely within Alameda County and organized as a public hospital authority to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of the community health services provided at the county health facilities it manages.
In determining whether to grant a waiver of the notice and consent requirements in the Corporations Code, the Attorney General reviewed the decisional factors set forth in Corporations Code section 5923. Given AHS’s longstanding role as a healthcare provider for the most vulnerable people in Alameda County, and the promises and representations made by AHS and by St. Rose Hospital, a financially distressed safety-net hospital serving the Hayward community, the Attorney General granted the waiver request, which include provisions to maintain clinical services, retain all current employees and medical staff in good standing, continue financial assistance and charity care, Medi-Cal and Medicare participation, and investment by AHS in St. Rose Hospital.
The California Department of Justice’s Healthcare Rights and Access Section (HRA) works proactively to increase and protect the affordability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare in California. HRA’s attorneys monitor and contribute to various areas of the Attorney General’s healthcare work, including nonprofit healthcare transactions; consumer rights; anticompetitive consolidation in the healthcare market; anticompetitive drug pricing; privacy issues; civil rights, such as reproductive rights and LGBTQ healthcare-related rights; and public health work on tobacco, e-cigarettes, and other products.
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