Medical center remains open 

Last month Catholic Healthcare West, the hospital's owner, announced it would shut down the medical center in October. Plans call for many existing services to be relocated to St. Mary Medical Center downtown.

Eastside residents and medical center employees were dismayed by the announcement and howled in protest.

We are lucky the city decided to do something.

Once Catholic Healthcare West ceases operations Oct. 2, the city will temporarily take over the hospital until it finds another operator that would take over the facilities.

Community Medical Center, located not far from campus at 1720 Termino Ave., is a very important care facility for east Long Beach. Along with general care, the hospital has a cardiac care center, cancer treatment center and a pediatric intensive care unit.

Moreover, it has the closest emergency room to Cal State Long Beach, just five minutes west of campus.

Without Community, where would people go? The only hospitals in Long Beach with similar comprehensive services are St. Mary and Long Beach Memorial Medical Centers ? both on the west side. Lakewood Regional Medical Center is another option, but it also is far away.

With Catholic Healthcare West moving staff and services to St. Mary, many current patients would be inconvenienced at the very least. Routine doctor visits and specialized treatments now require an additional 20 minutes to get across town. Medication can physically drain energy, especially for senior
citizens and ill patients.

The worst consequences of a shutdown are for paramedics assisting critical cases like serious accidents or heart attacks. Emergency treatment is farther away, and the additional distance could mean
the difference between life and death.

Catholic Healthcare West is firmly behind its decision to close the hospital.

A short-term municipal takeover of the hospital is the best and only hope of keeping it open. We should be grateful for the city's responsiveness in the matter.