Attorney General Kamala D. Harris approved the sale of a chain of six struggling Catholic hospitals last Friday. While she did approve of the hotly debated sale, she also imposed strict guidelines and conditions on how to manage the sale.

The conditions that Harris placed on the hospitals was requiring Prime Healthcare Services Inc. - the potential purchasers - to keep the hospitals open for 10 more years. This would include four of them being acute-care hospitals.

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Harris also insisted that the hospitals need to require the same level of charity to indigent patients as was the previous practice.

These conditions have muddled the fate of the Daughters of Charity Health System's as Prime Healthcare is taking a few days to review Harris' conditions, and will then see if they will continue with the purchase.

Dr. Kavitha Reddy Bhatia, vice president of clinical transformation for Prime Healthcare and daughter of the company's founder, said that they will be reaching a decision within the week and that they still remain committed to the future success of the hospitals.

For months, the purchase of the hospitals has been a contested issue in California. As many as 7,600 jobs and healthcare services reaching the lower-income communities are at stake with the sale.

Last October, Prime Healthcare offered $843 million in cash and assumed debt to acquire the six hospitals.

A key factor in the agreement moving forward was that Prime Healthcare also assume $300 million of liability for the pensions of 17,000 current and former employees of the hospital's 17,000 current and former employees of the hospitals.

The sale had riled up a number of supporters and parties who oppose the sale as well.

While some unions wanted Harris to block the sale, stating that Prime Healthcare was more concerned about profits than caring for the sick, the supporters of the sale indicated the company's history of saving struggling hospitals.

Tagshospitals, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Catholic Hospitals, Prime Healthcare Services Inc., Daughters of Charity Health Systems