Photo of Madera Community Hospital's emergency department in 2021 by Breanna Hardy.

Rep. Jim Costa released a statement Thursday confirming Trinity Health’s decision not to move forward with the acquisition of Madera Community Hospital.

“It disappoints me greatly that Trinity Health decided to walk away from its affiliation agreement with Madera Community Hospital,” said Costa.

The decision follows an 18-month negotiation with the Madera hospital, its board of directors, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and state and local leaders to maintain the hospital’s accessible services.  

Trinity Health is the Catholic-affiliated health system that operates Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno.

According to the statement from Costa’s office, Trinity felt that the needs of the health care system were not met by the conditions set by Bonta earlier this week.

 “I believe the Attorney General fairly assessed the application and required reasonable conditions to protect the community,” said Costa. “I am hopeful that we can find another solution — another partner — who can come in and continue the necessary medical coverage the citizens of Madera County deserve. The people of Madera County should not have to travel more than 30 minutes for healthcare. We must find a way to help.”

Bonta’s office on Thursday afternoon released a statement about the development. 

“These minimal conditions were necessary because without them, the communities could not be assured of even basic essential services, as they could be shut down at any time. Any deal without those conditions would make the hospital one that would not serve or help the people. In addition, the conditions allowed for the flexibility necessary for any turnaround plan.

“It is disappointing that Trinity Healthcare has chosen to leave residents in need by walking away from this deal, which took more than a year to craft, without any effort to engage. We are actively working with Madera Community Hospital to explore every option to help keep the hospital open for residents,” Bonta said.

Bonta’s conditional approval for the sale came last Thursday where under the terms of the sale, Trinity was committed to:

— Making financing available up to $45 million for installing and implementing a new medical records system and providing seismic upgrades to the hospital;

— Spending $3 million per year on other necessary investments into the hospital, including equipment upgrades 

Under the terms of the conditional approval, the Attorney General required that Trinity:

— Use commercially reasonable best efforts in good faith to maintain services at the Madera Community Hospital for 5 years;

— Accept price caps to ensure continued affordability for Madera residents;

— Ensure continued certification of the hospital as a Medi-Cal and Medicare facility;

— Provide charity care, financial assistance to patients, and community benefits;

— Comply with nondiscrimination rules in the provision of healthcare services; and

— Provide emergency reproductive healthcare services, notice and information to the public about nonemergency reproductive healthcare not provided, as well as information about alternative licensed providers and transport.

 

It is not clear what conditions caused Trinity to halt the acquisition, nor is it clear as to what this means for Madera Community Hospital.  

Efforts to reach a Saint Agnes representative for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.