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MONDAY, OCTOBER 06-OCTOBER 12, 2025
VOL. 11,
NO. 244
Health care district in Blythe files for bankruptcy
Murrieta officials celebrate affordable housing community
By Joe Taglieri
By City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com
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urrieta officials Wednesday celebrated the opening of the first phase of the 200-home Oak View Ranch Apartments. The first phase of the housing development involved the opening of 119 homes for families earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The facility features 13 mobility-accessible apartments, three hearing-accessible apartments, a swimming pool, children’s play area and a space for the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest County among other amenities. The second phase will be the Oak View Ranch Senior Apartments, which is slated to open by early 2027. The 81 apartment homes will be for residents ages 62 or older who earn between 30% to 60% of the area median income. Officials said they believe Oak View will aid in combating the county’s housing crisis. According to a 2024 California Housing Partnership report, four out of five extremely lowincome households pay more than half of their income for housing costs. See Affordable housing Page 24
| Photo courtesy of the Palo Verde Healthcare District
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he Palo Verde Healthcare District in Blythe has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in an attempt to stem longstanding financial problems and maintain services at Palo Verde Hospital ahead of the facility’s planned closure next month. The PVHD Board of Directors voted Sept. 22 to file for bankruptcy, and on Tuesday a petition was submitted Tuesday to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, Riverside Division. The district started the process of closing the hospital Sept. 24, according to the California Employment Department. The next-nearest health care facility for area residents is in the Coachella Valley, over 90 miles away from Palo Verde Hospital. The organization’s financial stress resulted from multiple issues — COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses, a cyberattack that delayed billing and collections, a reduction in Medicare funding, Provident Bank seizing about
$2.8 million to satisfy the district’s line of credit and a turnover of four chief financial officers. As of Tuesday, the district had about a week’s worth of cash to operate the hospital, officials said. According to a district staff report, as of Sept. 1 available cash totaled just under $1.26 million. Outstanding liabilities totaled over $5.28 million. “Chapter 9 is the last tool left while we work to fix the financial management challenges that have so drastically impacted the hospital during the past several years,” board President Carmela Garnica said in a statement. “Our community deserves a functioning hospital. We are doing everything we can to keep it open.” Despite receiving $4 million in emergency assistance from the state in May for payroll and operating costs, the hospital had insufficient funds to sustain the facility and suspended inpatient services and surgeries. In November 2023, PVHD received $8.5 million from
the state Distressed Hospital Loan Program administered by California Health Facilities Financing Authority. District officials said payments were deferred and may be eligible for partial forgiveness, but the relief did not fix short-term cash flow problems. A $591,000 Nondesignated Public Hospital Bridge Loan from CHFFA was also deferred for three years with possible forgiveness, but that also did not help enough to avert the bankruptcy filing. A recent review by Riverside County’s oversight commission deemed the district’s finances “very unstable,” with an immediate need for a major cash infusion to maintain even reduced services. The commission consists of two members from the county Board of Supervisors, two members from city councils appointed by the mayors of all the cities in the county, two special district board members selected by all the
independent special districts in the county and one public member chosen by the other six commissioners. “Nothing in the (the commission’s review) was news to our team or the public, as we had been reporting on the challenges since early this year,” Garnica said. “In any case, these facts left us with no viable path other than to pursue Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection to enable us to evaluate all of our options and take the necessary actions in the future.” If the court grants Chapter 9 status, that will allow the district to continue daily operations while it plans to adjust debts and communicate with employees about any changes. “This is an important step since getting the news that we would not be receiving emergency funding from the state of California,” hospital CEO Sandra J. Anaya said in a statement. “One of the advantages of filing for
See Palo Verde Healthcare District Page 02
Military vets in Riverside County without diplomas welcome to apply now By City News Service
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eterans of foreign wars who didn’t graduate from high school have two weeks left to apply for graduation certificates issued through a Riverside County program that awards diplomas to former airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines who gave up school to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. The county Office of Education is conducting its 19th Operation Recognition program for the benefit of veterans of World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. The program provides an opportunity for qualifying vets to receive certificates even though they never finished school. The application deadline this year is Oct. 17. County Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez said that 380 veterans have received diplomas under Operation Recognition since it was initiated in 2007. Some of the county residents awarded diplomas have been over 90 years old. “Foregoing the life-changing potential of an education in order to protect and serve their country was an honorable and courageous decision,” Gomez said. “Now it’s time to recognize that sacrifice with the educational acknowledgeSee Military vets Page 23