Burbank Hospital Rejects Merger With St. Joseph’s Owners

Burbank Community Hospital has decided not to pursue a proposal to merge with the hospital chain that owns St. Joseph Medical Center because such a merger would probably result in the 103-bed facility being converted into a nursing home, officials said Thursday.

Burbank Community Hospital’s foundation, composed of 48 doctors and 10 administrators, voted secretly during a closed meeting Wednesday night not to pursue the merger, said William Daniel, hospital director.

The reason, Daniel said, was because the Sisters of Providence, a nonprofit foundation that owns the 450-bed St. Joseph Medical Center, would not guarantee that Burbank Community would continue to operate as a hospital.

“They basically said there was not a need for two general service hospitals in the area,” Daniel said. “They wanted to use the hospital for alternate health-care purposes.”

Dr. Bettina Kurowski, associate administrator for planning at St. Joseph, said that had a merger occurred, the Sisters of Providence would probably have turned Burbank Community into a nursing home or hospice.

“It doesn’t make sense to run another hospital,” Kurowski said. “All you have to do is look around the Valley to see that there are far more hospital beds than we need.”

Both hospitals have experienced a significant drop in patients over the last few years, due in part to an increase in outpatient services, officials said.

Burbank Community lost more than $1.3 million last year and is expected to lose $1 million this year, posing a serious threat to the hospital’s future, officials said.

Daniel said Burbank Community’s foundation will explore other alternatives to keep the hospital going, including seeking another partner.

“There are a lot of other hospital chains around,” Daniel said. “Right now, we’re trying to determine the best course to take. . . . I’m convinced that we’ve got a place here in Burbank.”