Los Angeles

Abstract

of Findings The Los Angeles health care market — as varied as it is vast — juggles the needs of more than 10 million people across a geographically diverse landscape. More than 80 general acute care hospitals are scattered throughout Los Angeles County, an area twice the size of Delaware with 10 times the population. The county includes 88 cities, and the historically fragmented health care sector tends to serve distinct geographic areas where residents live and work. Only two health systems operate on a countywide scale: Kaiser Permanente, an integrated delivery system with a health plan, owned hospitals, and tightly aligned employed physicians serving primarily commercial and Medicare patients across the market; and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS), which operates the countywide safety-net system. Over the past several years, the Los Angeles market has inched toward greater consolidation as two major health systems — Cedars-Sinai and Providence — have expanded: Cedars by affiliating with community hospitals both north and south of its flagship medical center, and Providence through merger with St. Joseph Health to strengthen regional presence. The region has experienced a number of changes since the prior study in 2015–16 (see page 24 for more information about the Regional Markets Study). Key developments include: