Riverside LAFCO expedites review of Palo Verde Healthcare District after hospital curtails services

The Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission voted June 26 to begin an expedited municipal service review, or MSR, of the Palo Verde Healthcare District at the request of the City of Blythe after the district curtailed most hospital services.

The MSR will be accelerated from the regular schedule so staff can gather data and outline options, Gary (LAFCO staff) told commissioners. "This came to light quite frankly a few weeks ago," he said, noting that most services at the hospital had been curtailed except emergency and some clinic services and that residents must travel about 90 miles to the next hospital in California.

The review matters because the Palo Verde facility has been the City of Blythe's only hospital and the loss of services raises immediate public-safety and access concerns, commissioners and city officials said. Johnny Rodriguez, vice mayor of the City of Blythe, told the commission he had been appointed to the city's ad hoc committee on the…