Alhambra

The Board of Trustees of Alhambra Community Hospital, faced with a severely declining patient census, has hired Republic Health Corp. of Dallas to manage the hospital. The five-year management contract means that the administrator of the hospital is an employee of Republic, a nationwide health care firm that owns and manages more than 60 facilities.

Board President George Cummings said that while most hospitals have 50% patient occupancy, Alhambra recently has been as low as 30%. He added that the contract with Republic also should result in a variety of savings, such as $300,000 a year in supply purchasing.

Republic’s interim administrator is John Gardner, who replaces R. Hannan Jones, administrator since 1981.

The nonprofit hospital, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1981, is owned by the Alhambra Redevelopment Agency, which leases it to the City of Alhambra, which in turn subleases it to the Alhambra Community Hospital Corp. After the hospital fell behind in its rents to the agency, an agreement was reached under which the hospital is paying current rent and the delinquent rent with interest. The agreement is expected to last about 15 years.