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UCLA Health is one step closer to buying its fifth hospital after a governing body approved its request to acquire West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, from Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare.
The University of California Board of Regents greenlit UCLA Health’s plans to absorb the 260-bed San Fernando Valley hospital, Phil Hampton, a UCLA Health spokesperson, told Healthcare Brew in a statement.
“This effort will help UCLA Health to immediately address the significant inpatient, emergency department, and operating room capacity constraints in our health system,” Hampton said.
West Hills reported 54,483 emergency department visits and 2,769 operations—more than 1,800 of which were inpatient—in 2022, according to the hospital’s 2023 annual utilization report.
Representatives for the three entities—the University of California Board of Regents, UCLA Health, and HCA Healthcare—didn’t respond to requests or declined to comment on acquisition costs, timelines, or any other agreement terms.
If UCLA Health ultimately acquires West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, it would be the healthcare system’s first hospital in the San Fernando Valley. The four hospitals it currently runs are clustered on the west side of Los Angeles. UCLA Health also operates more than 270 clinics across Southern California and the Central Coast.
“This will provide our patients with an enhanced care network and seamless access to specialty services across Southern California,” HCA Healthcare Far West Division spokesperson Carmella Gutierrez told Healthcare Brew in a statement.