Tulare Regional Medical Center Is Two Big Steps Closer To Reopening

Plans to reopen a shuttered hospital in Tulare County took a big step forward last week. The board of the Tulare Local Health Care District voted to move ahead with a plan to reopen the Tulare Regional Medical Center under the operation of Adventist Health, which operates hospitals in Hanford, Selma and Reedley. TRMC has been closed since last fall when a fragile situation between the board and the prior management company reached a breaking point, and the district sought bankruptcy protection. We spoke with Xavier Avila, a member of the hospital’s board, to talk about why the district chose Adventist as its partner, and about the end of a lawsuit between the hospital and its former physicians group.