City officials want to reopen St. Vincent as a medical care facility for the homeless

City officials are calling on the richest person in Los Angeles to reopen the vacant St. Vincent Medical Center, which shut down in 2020, as a medical care facility for the homeless.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, bought St. Vincent Medical Center when it shut down in 2020. It was briefly used as a temporary COVID-19 hospital, but since then, it's been vacant.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell says they haven't gotten a response from Soon-Shiong about their proposal to reopen St. Vincent Medical Center for the homeless in need of medical care

"It's time for the richest person in Los Angeles, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, to put his vast financial wealth and considerable influence to good use and work with us to reopen St. Vincent as an acute care center for people experiencing homelessness," O'Farrell said in a statement.

Over the course of the pandemic, the city has lost 369 "board and care" beds, and reopening St. Vincent Medical Center could help fill that need, according to Kerry Morrison, founder and project manager of Heart Forward.

"St. Vincent has the capacity to provide a total of 500 bed for people living with serious mental illness, as well as our growing elderly population, who are otherwise not served by our traditional affordable housing continuum," Morrison said in a statement. "This is an opportunity to lead by example in showing how the private sector could step up to the plate to collaborate with government partners and not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the unsheltered."

In a statement later released by Soon-Shiong, he said he was not informed of Tuesday's news conference.

"I agree that medical care and mental health services are important issues in confronting the homelessness crisis. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this in-depth with members of the City Council," his statement said.