Catalina Island's only hospital on financial life support but still able to treat patients for now

Catalina Island Health, the only hospital and health care facility on the island, has faced many challenges over the past year. A shortage of supplemental funding has placed its future at risk.

"There are over 30 critical access hospitals in all of California, and we are the least reimbursed hospital out of all of those 30. So as new patients would arrive, we would get less reimbursement for taking care of those patients," said Tim Kielpinski, chief strategy officer for Catalina Island Health.

The hospital projected it would run out of funds by June. But thanks to the efforts of Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, emergency funding was secured in time to save the hospital.

"I introduced a measure before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and my colleagues agreed to vote for it, and it would supply Catalina Island Hospital with a one-time infusion of about $3 million of Measure B funds," Hahn said. "And Measure B funds are the funds that the voters voted to pay to go toward saving emergency rooms and trauma centers."

This critical funding will allow the hospital to continue operating through June 2026, giving hospital leaders time to explore long-term solutions. Without the facility, residents and visitors would be severely impacted.

"We end up getting about 2,500 emergency room patients a year... only 10% of them are flown off the island," Kielpinski said. "So we're able to stabilize, treat and retain 2,200 of those patients."

"This hospital provides the island residents with health care, this is their primary health care, their primary source of mental health care," Hahn said.

Now, hospital leaders are actively seeking a new partner to secure its future.

"We're looking for different partners. If we partnered up with a UC, if we partnered up with the county. Maybe we partner up with our city," Kielpinski said. "We did just meet with the CEO of Providence and they asked for our proposals, so we're still trying some of those things too."