20-097 St. Vincent Medical Center and St. Vincent Dialysis Center Closure and Contract Termination

Date: 01/23/20

This information applies to Physicians, Participating Physician Groups (PPGs), Hospitals, and Ancillary providers.

 

Ensure enrollees have continued access to referrals, prescription refills and care transition.

St. Vincent Medical Center (SVMC) will be closing on or about February 8, 2020. As a result, upon closure (effective February 8, 2020, at the latest), the contract between  Health Net* and SVMC will terminate.

The hospital has already ceased emergency department operations, all elective surgeries and other procedures. The transplant department will close by February 8, 2020, completing the full closure of the hospital. St. Vincent Dialysis Center (SVDC) is scheduled to close on or about January 30, 2020.

Providers should not refer Health Net Cal MediConnect Plan (Medicare-Medicaid Plan) enrollees to SVMC or SVDC. Participating providers must refer Health Net Cal MediConnect enrollees to participating Health Net providers for both inpatient and outpatient services.

Health Net offers continuity of care assistance for enrollees with an existing relationship with SVMC and is working with affected provider groups to coordinate the transition of care for enrollees affected by the closures. For information on continuity of care, contact the Provider Services Center as listed in the right-hand column.

Background

SVMC’s parent company, Verity Health Systems (Verity), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 31, 2018, in order to facilitate a court-supervised sale of some or all of its hospitals. On January 6, 2020, Verity filed a motion seeking court authority to proceed with the closure of SVMC and SVDC. The court approved the closure of both on January 9, 2020.

Additional information

Providers are encouraged to access Health Net’s provider portal online at provider.healthnet.com for real-time information, including eligibility verification, claims status, prior authorization status, plan summaries, and more.

If you have questions regarding the information contained in this update, contact the Health Net Provider Services Center by email at provider_services@healthnet.com within 60 days, by telephone or through the Health Net provider website.