Thanks to new management, formerly shuttered Tustin, Calif.-based Newport Specialty Hospital opened its emergency department for the first time after nearly a decade in January, according to The Orange County Register.
Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings purchased the hospital in May 2014 from Pacific Health Corp for an undisclosed amount, according to the report. Officials rebranded the hospital Foothill Regional Medical Center.
In 2007, the hospital shuttered its six-bed ER. In 2013, Pacific Health Corp paid the federal government a $16.5 million settlement to resolve allegations the company paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for patients recruited among homeless populations and provided alleged unnecessary care to those patients.
Since acquiring the 108,000-square-foot property, officials have re-introduced general hospital services to the facility. While the facility will retain its existing 42-bed subacute unit, intensive care unit and five operating rooms, officials also plan to open an interventional radiology lab, introduce another bed into the ER and hope to be receive patients via ambulance "soon," according to the report.