March 1 , 2021 Update: Following our report, L.A. Taco obtained an email that suggests that Soon-Shiong was considering reopening the shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center as a surge hospital in early January, near the peak of the deadliest surge during the pandemic, just weeks after the former hospital was used as a production set. In an email conversation between Council District 13 staffer, Star Parsamyan, and Christopher P. Espinosa, an employee with the Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst, Espinosa wrote: "I got a call back from the person who runs the Shiong Foundation. Currently, they are in direct conversation with the Governor's Office as they may re-open the facility as a COVID-19 surge hospital once again." Ultimately, St. Vincent Medical Center did not re-open as a surge hospital and it's unclear why. We’ve reached out to the parties referenced in the email, including Soon-Shiong through his company NantWorks, but have not received a response from anyone.
On April 17, when L.A. County reported 567 new COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths, recently shuttered (due to a bankruptcy sale), St. Vincent Medical Center in Westlake reopened as a surge hospital to fight the early spread of the virus.
Last week, when the county reported a record-breaking 22,422 new cases of COVID-19 (including over 7,000 backlogged cases) and over 130 deaths in one day, the former medical center purchased by LA Times owner and physician, Patrick Soon-Shiong, was being used as a TV production set.
Back in April, Soon-Shiong had ambitious plans to convert St. Vincent Medical Center into a COVID-19 “central command” center where experts could come together and additional patients could be treated. “That’s what every city should have done, they should have established a central command,” Soon-Shiong told the LA Times in April.