Six safety-net hospitals owned by the Daughters of Charity Health System -- four in the Bay Area and two in Los Angeles -- are for sale. The company says it's out of money and needs another organization to take over.
The mission of Daughters of Charity hospitals is to take care of the poor and needy. CEO Robert Issai says that three-quarters of the patients are covered by government health programs, which pay significantly less than private insurers.
"We’ve always had that 25 percent of commercial business to make ends meet," he said.
But a lot of that dried up when the recession hit in 2008. People lost their jobs and their insurance. Then the government cut back too, slashing reimbursement rates.
"End result is, 2014, now we are in a situation where we cannot sustain this operation going forward."