Financial problems caused mainly by the treatment of uninsured patients have forced two emergency rooms to close in Los Angles County, raising concerns that other facilities may be overwhelmed.
The latest closings are the fifth and sixth emergency rooms to close in two years, causing some officials to worry about a shortage of emergency care in the state's most populous region.
"We cannot stand any more closures in an emergency system capacity in Los Angeles _ this system is on the brink of absolute chaos," said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California.
One of the two shuttered emergency rooms is at Northridge Hospital Medical Center's Sherman Way campus, which officials announced Thursday would be closed by Dec. 31.
They blamed a decrease in reimbursements for treatment of uninsured patients, many of whom use the emergency room as their primary care facility.
Jerry Conway, hospital president, said the 209-bed hospital has been losing $1 million a month for a year.
On Aug. 13, a federal bankruptcy judge ordered 80-year-old Elastar Community Hospital and its emergency room in East Los Angeles to shut down after it amassed more than $10 million in debt.
The hospital, which served a large population of Hispanic immigrants, could not afford to pay its roughly 400 workers.
Health officials said four emergency rooms _ most in low-income areas _ have closed in Los Angeles County in the last two years because of the soaring cost of treating uninsured patients.
