Board approves applying unpaid fire mitigation fees to property tax bills
Palm Springs Animal Shelter: More local dogs found dead in NorCal probe
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Thursday, July 16-July 22, 2026
Ahead of public event, county keeps bankrupt hospital open By Joe Taglieri
By Paul J. Young, City News Service
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Board OKs formation of committee to assess sheriff's ops year after a similar proposal died for lack of support, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved formation of a committee to assess possible measures to improve oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and enhance the agency's overall operations going forward. "Watching sausage being made is messy," Supervisor Jose Medina said after roughly two-and-a-half hours of public testimony Tuesday regarding his and
joet@civicnewsgroup.com alo Verde Hospital in Blythe is continuing to provide emergency medical care as the facility continues through the process of Chapter 9 bankruptcy and county health officials provide day-to-day management, officials said Tuesday ahead of an open house event set for the end of the month. The hospital was on the brink of closure when the Riverside University Health System took over in an effort to preserve access to emergency care for residents of the rural community in eastern Riverside County. The nearest facilities with emergency rooms are over an hour's drive or more from Blythe. In February, the county Board of Supervisors OK’d a six-month rescue plan for the fiscally troubled Palo Verde Healthcare District, the business entity that operates the hospital. Michele De Armond, an RUHS executive director, said since the county's rescue attempt began in February, new equipment and medical personnel have been added. She noted a new EKG machine for assessing and monitoring cardiac issues, an infant warmer, anti-overdose medication and other infrastructure upgrades. Currently the hospital's staff totals just under 100, including 25 emergency room physicians and 25-30 nurses and support workers, officials said. "Everyone is supporting
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board Chair Karen Spiegel's joint proposal. "That's what we have. We have a cross section of the community giving input. It's messy and takes time, but it's important." In a 4-0 vote -- with Supervisor Chuck Washington absent -- the board cleared the way for establishment of an ad-hoc committee intended to spend about six months evaluating how best to increase scrutiny of sheriff's operations, and what might be done to make the agency
See Sheriff's ops Page 31
Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe. | Photo courtesy of the Palo Verde Healthcare District
the patient volume in the emergency department," said Leah Patterson, the hospital's interim chief nursing officer. "That is the only department currently open providing patient care services. "We are also operating with our lab and our radiology, we also outpatient services for physicians in the area or for patients who go to Indio, Hemet or other areas," Patterson said. "We're the only radiology department in about 120 miles." Lisa Mackie, interim emergency department director, said working to keep the hospital's doors open has been "eye-opening" and "rewarding," noting that many staff members have close ties to the community.
"Everywhere we go — restaurants, gas stations, hotel lobbies, the grocery store — we wear scrubs and when we are seen in the community without our name tags, we are approached to ask if we work here. ... The community keeps thanking us for being here." De Armond said one of the biggest challenges was the "assessment phase" early on in the county's hospital management mission. "Coming in and figuring out what the day-to-day looked like, what are their policies, procedures and guidelines? How do they staff, how do they order (supplies and equipment)?" De Armond said. "The only hardest part was peeling See Hospital Page 02
back all the layers to really get a good handful of what's going on and how they operate." Patterson said a significant challenge has been prioritizing areas of need to address. "It's like what problem are we trying to solve? ... Which problem do we want to solve first?" she said. Patterson added that staffing has also proven challenging due to the hospital's location that requires hours of driving time — "getting licensed people for all the different specialty areas, clinicians that we need, lab, radiology and ER nursing positions," she said. About 22,00 people live in Blythe, and the hospital
Board continues contracts with nonprofits for homeless services By City News Service
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he Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved agreements with three nonprofits for the continuation of homeless shelter and related services throughout Riverside County. In a 3-0 vote without comment — with Supervisor Manuel Perez arriving late and Supervisor Chuck Washington absent — the board signed off on the county Department of Housing and Workforce Solutions' request for $1.21 million in the current fiscal year to support operations at the Indio-based Coachella Valley Rescue Mission,
Path of Life Ministries of Riverside and Valley Restart Shelter in Hemet. A separate but related compact was additionally approved with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments to administer the program directly involved with emergency homeless shelter referrals. All of the agreements are set to run from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2031, though they may be abrogated at any time. Total appropriations required over that period will be just over $6 million, originating from the General Fund, according
See Homeless services Page 02