EMERGENCY ROOM STAFF HOPES TO STOP CLOSURE.Byline: R.A. Hutchinson Daily News Staff Writer Armed with widespread community support, employees of Westlake Medical Center plan to rally against today's closure of their hospital with an appeal to keep the facility operating. Officials with Nashville-based Columbia Healthcare Corp. announced late last week that they would close the hospital over the weekend and shut down the emergency room at 5 p.m. today. Patients are being directed to Columbia's nearby facilities, Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Barry Pollack, a Westlake Village resident and a physician in the emergency room, predicts more than 1,000 people will attend the 8:30 a.m. rally on Wednesday morning at the hospital. Scheduled speakers include former councilwoman and long-time hospital volunteer Berniece Bennett; Frank Gillingham, director of the emergency room; Gwyn Petrick, representing the Westlake Village Chamber of Commerce; and Fred Goldman Fred Goldman is the father of Ron Goldman who was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson. OJ Simpson was charged with their deaths but was acquitted in the criminal trial. Simpson was ordered to pay Goldman and his family $33. , an area resident whose son Ron was murdered with Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the wife of American football player O.J. Simpson. Found murdered at her home in Los Angeles, California, along with her friend Ronald Goldman, her death led to one of the most controversial and widely-discussed criminal . ``I think it should stay open and be revitalized,'' Pollack said of the hospital. ``This emergency room has never lost money.'' Pollack said the rally will be geared toward catching the attention of Bernard Salick, the physician who heads up Beverly Hills-based Salick Health Care Inc. Salick's company is in negotiations with Columbia to buy the Westlake Village facility. ``Every single thing that was done, since the day (Columbia) bought us, was (debilitative de·bil·i·tate tr.v. de·bil·i·tat·ed, de·bil·i·tat·ing, de·bil·i·tates To sap the strength or energy of; enervate. [Latin d ) or negative,'' Pollack said. ``If we're not making any money - as Columbia says - then why would they care if someone else wants to run an operation here? Why should they care? Unless it's corporate greed.'' Ronald C. Phelps, president and chief executive officer at Los Robles, said he could not comment on the purchase agreement because it's still being discussed. Terms of the agreement will be announced at 11 a.m. July 3, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a statement from Salick officials. Negotiations began in January when Columbia first announced it would close Westlake Medical Center and reroute patients to its facilities in West Hills and Thousand Oaks. At that time, Salick Health Care, which had a long-term lease agreement with Universal Health Care, Westlake's former owners, decided to exercise its option to buy the hospital. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Phelps said staff in the Los Robles emergency room has been increased and the emergency waiting room expanded in anticipation of the extra patient load. Westlake Medical had been seeing about 25 patients a day, or about 750 a month. ``We're geared up for the whole 750 at this time,'' Phelps said. ``We've expanded our emergency room waiting area, and we've increased the nursing staff.'' |
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