“Brotman has existed for more than 80 years, and it likely will be around for another 80.” — The hospital’s CEO
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After half a year on the job as the Chief Executive Officer of chronically troubled Brotman Medical Center, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last autumn, Stan Otake says, euphemistically, that the bleeding has been stanched.

“There is a positive story to be told here,” he says. “Despite these challenging times, I have loyal employees. They are working through a difficult time period to be part of a new organization.

“In the last five months of operation, we have actually made money, to the tune of nearly $700,000 a month, in a very challenging hospital environment.”

This is striking news after months of losing $1 million every 30 days.

“I want the truth to be told about the Brotman Medical Center,” said the hospital administrator. “I am tired of headlines that are sensational in nature, to alarm Culver City residents that Brotman is in doomsday.

‘Significant Progress’

“The fact of the matter is, we are still in bankruptcy, and here is a new headline talking about how we have not filed a new reorganization plan. But it was basically an article from the L.A. Times, from a content standpoint, with a different headline.

“The truth is, the hospital has made significant progress in the last six months of operation in a challenging industry.

“No. 2, working in a bankrupt situation, these headlines, at times, are demoralizing, both to my medical staff, the doctors here in the community who have been totally supportive of Brotman Medical Center, and employees here, myself included. We are working for a bankrupt organization, and they have shown tremendous loyalty.”

The offending headlines, Mr. Otake said, “are a disservice to the hard work of employees, some of whom have been here more than 30 years.”

Insisting that his hospital will remain in business as a full-service player, Mr. Otake says that Brotman’s 425 beds are well beyond its needs, and have been for quite awhile. He judges that Brotman could reasonably be downsized by 50 percent or more beds.

In the Background

While Mr. Otake speaks sunnily of developments to date and to come, the spectre of last Friday’s temporarily delayed payroll, assertedly for technical reasons, and the prospect of its acquisition by Prime Healthcare Services of Victorville weigh in on the other side.

Prime, which has been buying up Southern California hospitals, took over Brotman’s $19 million in loans four weeks ago. The two sides have met twice in court, and another date before a bankruptcy judge is scheduled for next week.

While Prime hands over a court-ordered weekly operating allowance to Brotman, their relationship has been less than smooth.

Effectively the landlord of the hospital, Prime also is a primary suitor, standing by to make a bid if Brotman falters.

“Prime’s involvement this month really has been uneventful,” says Mr. Otake, “except for the first few days when they tried to interfere with the hospital operations. But this was addressed at the court level, and the judge made certain decisions in which we have the traditional borrower-lender type of relationship.

Complications of a Relationship

“Healthcare can be simplified, and so can relationships. For example, as a homeowner, even though I have not changed the terms of my loan, I have had three different people I have had to write checks to.

“In this case, CapitalSource (of Chevy Chase, MD, the original lending agency) sold our loan to Prime. Prime clearly has different interests.”

Addressing the Culver City hospital’s immediate future, Mr. Otake said:

“Brotman has existed for more than 80 years, and it likely will be around another 80-plus, in a similar shape or form. There is no question in my mind that the community can support an acute care hospital — whether it is called Brotman or another hospital is another question.

Competing on Even Terms?

“Brotman competes, you should understand, in a world-class hospital environment. I proudly say that. Our competitors include Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA Medical Center, St. John’s Hospital, with an exceptional reputation.

“I am proud that my medical staff, the same doctors who work at those facilities, also are on staff at Brotman Medical Center.

“Quality is often a misused term, in my opinion, in healthcare. It is used so often when the healthcare really is of average quality. The standard for healthcare for an insider is:

Would you use certain services for your family and friends?

“I have some world-class services here at Brotman, and I am very proud of the quality of my emergency department. I would bring my family and friends to my emergency department. We have exceptional doctors.

“I have an interventional cardiology program. With the marketplace changes, I have some of the top cardiology groups in all of Southern California associated with Brotman Medical Center. I have CVMG out of Beverly Hills. I have Dr. Hooman Madyoon’s group, and the Apex cardiology group, a new group previously based at Centinela Hospital.”