EXCLUSIVE
The Motion Picture and Television Fund is inching closer to turning over its longterm care facility to Providence Health & Services, but a deal isn’t in place yet, according to a memo obtained by TheWrap.
In a recent memo to staff, CEO Bob Beitcher wrote that Providence could take control by the end of the year.
Providence signed a letter of intent in February, in which it said it would take over the longterm care center’s lease. That arrangement prevented the MPTF from closing the money-losing facility.
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As part of the deal with Providence, the MPTF will renovate its facilities and increase the number of handicap accessible bathrooms to comply with regulations. Construction could start as early as this month.
“This is an exciting time for us,” Beitcher writes. “When we complete the affiliation, the building renovations, and the introduction of the new services, the MPTF campus will be busier than it has ever been with high-quality acute and post-acute hospital services.”
In the memo, Beitcher writes that once the renovations receive approval, the hospital license will be transferred to Providence. Current MPTF employees will then become Providence employees.
All told, the MPTF is expecting to house 199 patients once the renovations are completed.
The deal with Providence was seen as a major victory for the various grassroots groups who had been battling the MPTF’s plans the shutter its longterm care facilities for more than a year.
The fight to keep the center open began almost immediately after the MPTF announced that it would close the facility, because it was losing money at a rate of roughly $10 million a year.
At the time there were roughly 135 patients. For more than a year the MPTF has refused to accept new patients and the number of residents has dwindled to fewer than 35, as some died to illness or old age and others moved to other facilities. There are currently 30 residents in the hospital’s dementia care unit.
Beitcher said the policy regarding new residents will change once a deal is in place.
“We will begin accepting new long term care patients once we have signed and closed our deal with Providence and all regulatory approvals are reached,” Beitcher said in a statement to TheWrap.
Here's the full text of the memo:
AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM BOB BEITCHER
When we announced the signing of our Letter of Intent with Providence Health & Services (PH&S) in February, we described the situation as "getting engaged to be married." At that time, we committed to keeping you informed as we "planned the marriage." This is an interim communication on those developments.
A team from MPTF has been meeting very regularly with a counterpart team from PH&S to configure the services we hope to provide on campus after the affiliation is completed. As we originally announced, we will continue with a Long Term Care facility that is exclusive to industry members, as well as with Harry's Haven, our dementia care unit, also exclusive to industry members. Also, in the plans is a neurological rehab unit in collaboration with UCLA Hospital System. Other services under serious consideration include a long-term acute hospital, a skilled rehab/transitional care unit, and a skilled nursing/palliative care unit. In total, we are looking at filling roughly 199 beds with some combination of these services.
To achieve our plan, we will need to renovate various buildings to bring them into regulatory compliance. Much of this is related to having an adequate number of handicap accessible bathrooms and other ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) matters. These renovations will be done in phases, starting with the Pavilion, where we hope to begin demolition some time in July. Careful attention will be paid to mitigate any potential disruption to patients and/or staff throughout this process.
There are many regulatory approvals that lay ahead of us and a date of completion is difficult to predict. However, we remain hopeful it will be before the end of 2011. Once the approvals are in place, our hospital license will transfer to Providence-Tarzana and many of the MPTF employees providing service in our hospital unit will become Providence-Tarzana employees. The details for this transition are still being worked out and there is nothing definitive to share with you at this time.
This is an exciting time for us. When we complete the affiliation, the building renovations, and the introduction of the new services, the MPTF campus will be busier than it has ever been with high-quality acute and post-acute hospital services. lt will be an opportunity to create new jobs and for many of you to achieve the personal and professional development you have been looking for.
The road to get there won't be easy, it never is, but the journey's end I hope will be a positive one for you.
In the meantime, I appreciate your patience and look fonruard to communicating with you again some time soon.