Business Licenses and Permits:: Published by Corporation Service Company » Blog Archive » Call for business license to be denied to California hospital

Calls from the public and members of the health sector have been made for the state to deny business license applications from a private hospital.

Reports have revealed that Prime Healthcare Services, a private hospital chain operating in California, had Medicare patients suffering from high levels of malnutrition.

This has now led to state and federal investigations of the 14 hospitals and the healthcare union Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) has requested that any application from the hospital for a license is also denied until the investigations are over.

The call comes after Prime Healthcare bought a hospital last November when federal and state investigations were pending, due to a loophole in the system, SEIU claims.

However, Senate Health Committee chair Ed Hernandez has now introduced legislation to close the loophole.

Dave Regan, trustee at the union, commented, “Prime Healthcare should not be granted a single new license to operate hospitals in California until public confidence in the company’s care and Medicare billing practices is restored.”