Historic Long Beach Hospital To Close Emergency Department
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A nearly 100-year-old hospital in Long Beach will shutter its emergency department this month.
Community Hospital Long Beach (CHLB) announced Tuesday that it will phase out its emergency department and acute care services over the next week.
Beginning Wednesday, Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency closed CHLB to 911 ambulance dispatches.
Then, on the morning of Nov. 24, the emergency department will close to all walk-ins and visitors.
Molina, Wu, Network LLC -- the nonprofit healthcare group which has been operating the CHLB since it leased it from the city in December of 2019 -- indicated the closure was due to staffing issues.
"Available staffing for acute care units has become increasingly challenging," MWN said in a news release Tuesday. "In addition, several nurse registry staffing agencies have indicated their intent to cease providing services to Community Hospital Long Beach, effective this current month."
CHLB first opened back in 1924. It was controversially closed in 2018 when its then-operator determined a state-mandated seismic retrofit was too expensive.
It partially reopened in January of 2021 to help neighboring hospitals which were stressed by the influx of COVID-19 patients. It then fully reopened in May.