LOS ANGELES — Ida Rich, 73, has been living in Little Ethiopia for six years but said she doesn't love it anymore.

For starters, her groceries are delivered to her in a van because there is not a grocery store nearby. And now, the medical center that is just a hundred yards away will be closing.

"Old people live near here," said Rich. "Elderly people need emergency [sic] and anytime we can go there, and the doctors can help us. It’s very necessary for us."

She worries about the impact the Olympia Medical Center's closure will have on her friends and neighbors.

"I mean, it is very helpful," she said. "It is very important for elderly people. If people have, God forbid a stroke, something, fell down, they can go right away there."

Shenita Anderson, an emergency room nurse who has been working at the 200-bed medical center for two years, is concerned as well.

“To close at a time like this, when there is an increase of COVID cases, and not be able to provide that resource to all of these intricate populations would just be devastating,” said Anderson.

Alecto Healthcare Services, the owners of the medical center, announced to Anderson and her 450 nurse coworkers that the center would shut down on March 31. According to National Nurses United, Olympia Medical Center logged more than 25,000 emergency room visits in 2019, before the pandemic started. Anderson said the majority of those visits were from vulnerable individuals, from the hundreds of elderly in the area, like Rich.

“They depend wholeheartedly on Olympia, and us being able to provide the services that we provide as efficiently as we provide them,” said Anderson.

In a statement on their website, Alecto Healthcare Services and Olympia Medical Center said, “The renovations will better serve the community.”

UCLA Health has bought the property and indicated they're looking forward to growing and expanding, eventually turning the medical center into another hospital campus that will serve the community. That, however, could be years away. In the meantime, as Anderson explained, it is cruel to close the medical center while nearby hospitals are experiencing 0% ICU capacity.

“What’s going to happen with the senior populations that are coming in here for sepsis and exacerbated UTIs?" said Anderson. "People are going to die, and you know this decision has to be something that is revised to keep Olympia open serving this community."

Community is why Rich moved to the neighborhood, but now she feels like the things she needs to live a comfortable life are no longer there.

"For elderly people, it is not good," she said. "It is not fair."

For now, it’s another resource lost, for Rich and her friends. 

Below are Olympia Medical Center and UC Los Angeles Health’s full statements.

Olympia Medical Center:

“To allow for substantial renovations which will allow the Olympia Medical Center Facility to better serve the healthcare needs of the community, Olympia Medical Center (“Olympia”) has elected to voluntarily suspend all patient care services including the emergency department and all emergency medical services effective as of 11:59 p.m. on March 31, 2021. The emergency department will not provide services after 11:59 pm on March 31, 2021. Certain supplemental services may be suspended after January 31, 2021.

The suspension of services will involve the following: (1) suspension of Olympia’s inpatient services including 6 licensed coronary care beds, 6 intensive care beds, and 192 unspecified general acute care beds; (2) Suspension of Olympia’s inpatient and outpatient surgical services; (3) Suspension of Olympia’s other approved services including basic emergency medical services, nuclear medicine, physical therapy, respiratory care services, and social services; (4) Suspension of Olympia’s outpatient services including, without limitation, the following services: (a) wound care clinic; (b) vascular lab; (c) pt, ot, speech therapy; (d) behavioral health; and (e) digestive diseases and (5) the separation of employment for approximately 450 full-time and part-time employees.”

Statement from UCLA Health:

"UCLA Health regularly considers property purchases and growth opportunities in the region that allow us to expand access to care for patients who need our services.

One such opportunity arose recently with Olympia Medical Center of Los Angeles in mid-Wilshire. The operators decided to sell the property and will be winding down their services over the next few months before closing the hospital.

This asset provides a much-needed future growth opportunity for UCLA Health and will allow us to expand services. To this end, in 2021 we will be launching the initial planning process for a major facility renovation on the former Olympia campus. This process will include leadership, faculty and staff. This purchase will provide UCLA Health with an additional campus and the potential to contribute significantly to community benefit needs.

We look forward to sharing more information soon on this exciting opportunity to improve access to care in our community.”