The chief executive officer at bankrupt Palo Verde Hospital is resigning, planning to spend about another week on the job before making her exit, officials announced Wednesday.
Sandra Anaya’s resignation will take effect April 23. She’s been at the helm for 13 years, according to the Palo Verde Healthcare District. The hospital’s financial stability began a steady decline in the current decade, though losses haven’t been publicly blamed on any one person.
There was no word on whether a replacement would be sought.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors in February approved a six-month rescue plan in an attempt to keep the hospital’s emergency room alive. It is the only component of the Blythe facility that’s still in operation.
“Anaya’s departure does not change the terms of the management services agreement with the county,” according to a PVHD statement. “Ownership of the hospital does not change, and the district remains the licensed hospital operator and retains all regulatory, licensure and emergency medical treatment and Labor Act responsibilities. Hospital employees remain employees of the district.”
Under the agreement, the board in March authorized a $3.44 million allocation from the General Fund as payment to the California Department of Health Services on behalf of the healthcare district. County Executive Office spokeswoman Brooke Federico said the county disbursal covered the district’s obligation to the state’s Voluntary Rate Range Program.
She said the “intergovernmental transfer” payment enabled the district to tap into taxpayer-backed credit available under Medi-Cal exceeding $9 million to bolster hospital operations.
A “strike team” authorized by the board and composed of medical professionals from the Riverside University Health System initiated a reformation on Feb. 23 intended to stabilize the Blythe hospital’s emergency clinic. The team’s deployment was appended to a $1 million stabilization loan previously authorized by the board for the insolvent facility.
The supervisors additionally have filled one of two vacancies on the PVHD Board of Directors, appointing Palo Verde College administrator Jaclyn Randall to a seat last month. The other vacant seat is slated to be filled by voters in the healthcare district during the November general election.
Under the management services agreement, RUHS staff are tasked with implementing all necessary processes connected to the county’s 180-day strike team support plan, with the goal of maintaining emergency operations at the cash-strapped hospital. Without emergency services at the facility, the area’s roughly 20,000 residents would lose access to “timely treatment for life-threatening conditions where minutes matter,” according to a county statement in January. Outside of the hospital, the nearest option for emergency healthcare is more than 70 miles away.
The monetary agreement between the county and district specifies the county will have “first priority” status among the district’s creditors and will under no circumstances be liable for any of its debts.
At the end of last September, the PVHD board voted to seek federal Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection while efforts were made to stanch ongoing financial losses. Administrators noted the hospital had been struggling to remain afloat since the start of the current decade, with revenue streams withering while patient loads remained unchanged.
The California Health Facilities Financing Authority extended an $8.5 million infusion from the Distressed Hospital Program in 2023, but that turned into a short-term fix, according to the district. Officials expressed frustration at the time about the inability to recruit a chief financial officer who would stay the course in sorting out possible solutions. Four CFOs came and went in an 18-month span.
The county’s original $1 million loan will pay for staff salaries and benefits, pharmaceuticals, equipment purchases, utilities, billing operations and some legal expenses associated with Chapter 9 proceedings.
The possibility of a wholesale county takeover of the hospital’s emergency department has not been ruled out publicly.