MemorialCare Health System, based in Fountain Valley, Calif., is considering relinquishing the emergency department and hospital licenses for its Saddleback Memorial in San Clemente, Calif., to convert the community hospital into full-service outpatient center, according to a report from the O.C. Register.
The hospital's emergency department and inpatient beds would be closed to create space for comprehensive outpatient services, should the plan be approved. MemorialCare says the plan is to transform the hospital into "the Ambulatory Health Care Campus of the Future."
The plan states the conversion would begin in mid 2015, if approved, and Saddleback Memorial's CEO, Steve Geidt, told the Register the project could cost around $40 million. The move is in response to decreases in inpatient volume driven by more sophisticated outpatient care, according to the report.
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