A deal has been struck that would see San Jose's O'Connor Hospital and five other hospitals operated by Daughters of Charity Health System taken over by Prime Healthcare Services, a company that has a "checkered history," according to the San Jose Mercury News.
O'Connor and the other religiously-affiliated hospitals – including hospitals in Daly City, Gilroy and Moss Beach – have a reputation for giving care to low-income patients. And Prine Healthcare, some say, might "turn its back" on those in-need people and "slash workers' pay and benefits," the newspaper reported.
Prime is known for "overcharging" for health care services and avoiding patients without insurance and on Medicare, according to Jeff Smith, the Santa Clara County county executive who tried to acquire O'Connor as a public hosptal.
The deal to buy the hospitals must be approved by other officials, including top leaders in the Vatican, the newspaper reported.
Union workers at the hospitals opposed the sale, saying that Prime has a reputation for overbilling Medicare and misdiagnosing patients, the newspaper reported.
Executives with Prime say that they'll sink $150 million into capital improvements into the hospital over the next three years, and they'll continue "charity care" at the hospital, the newspaper reported.
