Health & Welfare

Decoding Prime

How a major California hospital chain boosts its bottom line through aggressive billing practices.

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital’s stent placements violated state regulations

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Hospital chain, already under scrutiny, reports high malnutrition rates

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Prime Healthcare's treatment of rare ailments stands out

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Chain profits by admitting ER patients

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Data: Health & Welfare

Interactive graphic: Prime reports outsized rates of unusual conditions

October 13, 2011, 11:57 PM

Prime Healthcare Services, a chain of 13 hospitals in Southern California and one in Shasta County, reports higher rates of several serious medical conditions than other California hospitals. At the same time, former doctors and employees of Prime say that chain owner Dr. Prem Reddy has urged... + read more

Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Inspectors drop Prime citations but forward findings for fraud probe

October 4, 2011, 7:22 PM

The California Department of Public Health has dismissed findings against Prime Healthcare Services over its documentation of bloodstream infections, saying the department lacked evidence to cite hospitals over incomplete or inaccurate medical records. But in a six-page analysis of the... + read more

Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Attorney general denies sale to controversial hospital chain

September 20, 2011, 4:46 PM

In a widely watched decision, the state attorney general's office today denied the sale of Victor Valley Community Hospital to Prime Healthcare Services' nonprofit foundation, saying the sale would not be "in the public interest." Prime's nonprofit foundation... + read more

Data: Health & Welfare

More seniors with Medicare admitted after Prime Healthcare takeover

August 29, 2011, 4:53 PM

Prime Healthcare Services acquired 11 California hospitals from 2005 to 2009. After Prime acquired each facility, the percentage of seniors with Medicare who were sent from the emergency room to the main hospital increased. Compare the Medicare admission rates at each hospital, before and after... + read more

Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Hospital owner's charity may have avoided taxes

August 16, 2011, 1:22 AM

A foundation controlled by Dr. Prem Reddy, the driving force behind Southern California’s fast-growing Prime Healthcare Services hospital chain, may have avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxes through a questionable charitable gift, tax experts said. Public records... + read more

Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Senator asks Harris to review hospital sale

August 10, 2011, 12:05 AM

The chairman of the state Senate Health Committee is asking Attorney General Kamala Harris to take a skeptical look at approving the purchase of Victory Valley Community Hospital by Prime Healthcare Services. Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, told Harris in a letter that California Watch's... + read more

Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Hearing on hospital sale could be contentious

August 8, 2011, 12:05 AM

Next week, the attorney general's office will hold a hearing over the proposed sale of Victor Valley Community Hospital to Prime Healthcare Services, the controversial and growing chain of 14 hospitals. The hospital, which the chain pledges to operate as a nonprofit, would be Prime... + read more

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How we calculated hospitals’ ER admission rates

July 23, 2011, 2:07 PM

California Watch analyzed state data to determine admission rates at Prime Healthcare Services hospitals. Here’s how we crunched the numbers. + read more

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Ex-employees say Prime hospitals stretch to keep patients

July 23, 2011, 2:06 PM

Deciding when a patient is stable enough to leave a hospital is difficult for any doctor, but some former employees of Prime Healthcare Services say the chain has gone to extreme lengths to keep patients at their medical facilities. + read more