Asian American foundation offers to purchase L.A. hospital to research coronavirus

Dr. Patrick Soon-Siong and his wife Michele Chang lead the foundation that wants to by an L.A. hospital.

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A family foundation has offered to buy an empty Los Angeles hospital and turn it into a hospital for coronavirus patients and research.
The Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, led by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his wife, Michele B. Chan, would pay $135 million to purchase St. Vincent Medical Center out of bankruptcy, Patch reported Thursday (April 2).

According to a National Museum of American History interview, both Soon-Shiong and Chan are company executives and philanthropists who were born in South Africa to Chinese families. The Foundation Directory Online states the mission of the couple’s foundation is to fund research and erase disparities in access to healthcare and education.

In an interview with the LA Times, which he owns, Soon-Shiong said the goal is to turn St. Vincent into a center that would attract doctors and medical experts, as well as relieve pressure on other hospitals during the pandemic. He added that every city should have established similar “central command” centers, noting that “we are in a war zone now.”

Los Angeles County officials declared a state of emergency for the novel coronavirus on March 4. As of noon on April 2, the county has reported over 4,000 cases and 78 deaths.

According to Patch, St. Vincent had 366 beds at the time it closed in January. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on March 20 that to increase capacity to care for COVID-19 patients, the state would lease St. Vincent and another medical center on a three-month basis for $30 million.

The Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation’s purchase would “bolster that effort,” Soon-Shiong told the LA Times, which he bought in 2018.

A judge approved the couple’s foundation as the lead bidder for St. Vincent on Wednesday, with competing offers required to be submitted within two days, Patch reported.

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St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Besides owning the L.A. Times, Soon-Shiong is a transplant surgeon, medical researcher with “more than 230 issued patents worldwide,” and owner of numerous medical companies and startups.

The LAT used the doctor's medical expertise early in the pandemic to produce an eight-part video series on the science behind the novel coronavirus, starring its owner.

If the sale goes through, Soon-Shiong told the LA Times St. Vincent’s infrastructure “needs a significant amount of work.” The State of California will be in charge of staffing the hospital once it opens and will pay $2.6 million a month to lease the facility, according to the LA Times.

Although it’s unclear whether St. Vincent Medical Center would continue operating as a hospital after the coronavirus outbreak recedes, Soon-Shiong mentioned the need to address issues of homelessness, mental health and poverty to the LA Times.

For now, he is focused on the present.

“(There) is an urgency in regards to COVID-19,” Soon-Shiong told the LA Times. “We literally have weeks before we have a huge surge.”

Views Frpm tje Edge contributed to this report.