FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2015
St. Francis Nurses Urge DCHS to Move Forward with Blue Wolf
Prime Healthcare Services has Withdrawn Bid to Buy Hospital Chain
LYNWOOD—Prime Healthcare Services, Inc., has withdrawn its bid to purchase the Daughters of Charity Health System (DCHS) after California Attorney General Kamala Harris approved the sale of the non-profit hospital chain to for-profit Prime with a list of conditions.
“We’re pleased Prime has decided to withdraw its bid to purchase the Daughters of Charity Health System. We encourage Daughters to move forward immediately with a new buyer in order to keep the system intact and running. Luckily this buyer already exists—Blue Wolf. There is still a great opportunity to save the system and the jobs of hospital staff,” said Bill Rouse, negotiator at UNAC/UHCP. Rouse and a bargaining team made up of St. Francis nurses worked with Daughters of Charity and Prime to ensure community patient care remained a top priority in the sale.
Blue Wolf Capital Partners was among the companies who bid on the Daughters of Charity Health System. A sale to Blue Wolf would allow the chain of hospitals to continue to provide vital services in local communities while keeping the hospital chain together. Blue Wolf’s bid on the chain received substantial support from public officials and other community leaders.
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UNAC/UHCP represents the nurses at St. Francis and 25,000 registered nurses and other health care professionals, including optometrists; pharmacists; physical, occupational and speech therapists; nurse midwives; social workers; clinical lab scientists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners. UNAC/UHCP is affiliated with the National Union of hospital and Health Care Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.