Local News in Brief : Hospital to Be Used to House Juveniles
- Share via
Beginning next summer, the county’s Mid-Valley Hospital will be used to relieve crowded conditions at McLaren Children’s Center and juvenile halls.
The county will lease two hospital buildings to Pricor Inc., which will operate an 84-bed residential program there.
“We see it as a very positive move,” said Robert L. Chaffee, director of the county’s Department of Children’s Services.
The county had considered putting the hospital up for sale for $3.6 million. But the county concluded it could save $2.3 million a year if it leased the facilities to Pricor.
The hospital’s third structure, an office tower, will continue to be occupied by a county health clinic that moved from its cramped quarters near the Van Nuys courthouse this summer.
The Department of Health Services is eager to keep the clinic there, but the county has yet to decide whether to sell the building, said Robert C. Gates, health services director.
In the new setting, the number of patients has skyrocketed, said Dorris Harris, area chief in charge of Valley health clinics. There were 2,293 patients in July, 3,012 in August and 5,205 in September.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
