Snell & Wilmer Represents Imperial Valley Healthcare District in Acquisition of El Centro Regional Medical Center

SAN DIEGO – Snell & Wilmer represented the Imperial Valley Healthcare District (IVHD) in its acquisition of El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC) from the City of El Centro. The transaction closed on October 15, 2026. It brings the region’s hospital services together under a single countywide public healthcare district, which is intended to preserve access to essential hospital care for residents of Imperial County.

The closing concludes a process that began more than three years ago. Enacted in 2023, Assembly Bill 918 (AB 918) created IVHD and dissolved two existing districts, the Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District (PMHD) and the Heffernan Memorial Healthcare District (HMHD). Their assets, rights, and responsibilities passed to IVHD as the successor agency by operation of law. ECRMC was owned by the City of El Centro, so the bill could only require good faith negotiations for IVHD to purchase it, as the only other hospital in the county. The legislation addresses long-standing problems in the county’s health care system, including service gaps that led to more than 13,000 residents seeking medical care outside the county in 2022 alone.

The El Centro City Council approved the Asset Transfer Agreement in July 2025. On October 13, 2026, the council voted 5-0 at a special meeting to approve the transfer of the ECRMC hospital facility, related real property, and other assets to IVHD, which cleared the way for closing. The completed transaction brings ECRMC, Pioneers Memorial Hospital, and the assets and responsibilities of the former Heffernan Memorial Healthcare District in Calexico under one regional system.

IVHD acquired ECRMC’s operating assets, related properties, and associated liabilities over a multiyear process. Both parties are public agencies subject to California’s open meeting requirements, so the deal drew significant public scrutiny throughout. The deal had several moving parts. It required hospital license transfers, negotiations with bondholders, an unusual M&A structure, and a plan for unfunded pension liabilities. It also had to be coordinated with a countywide bond measure on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The acquisition follows an earlier legal victory for IVHD. In January 2025, the firm secured a decision before the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego that cleared the path for consolidating Imperial County’s health care services under a single district. That ruling came one week after the firm, together with the State Attorney General’s Office and counsel for co-respondent Imperial Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), persuaded the Imperial County Superior Court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging AB 918. In its first year, IVHD grew from a newly established district into a fully operational health care provider, with a public acute care hospital, multiple rural health clinics, and a new urgent care facility in Calexico.

“For too long, families in the Imperial Valley have had to travel outside the region to access hospital care,” said Adriana R. Ochoa, the Snell & Wilmer partner who led the firm’s team. “The acquisition marks an important step toward bringing hospital services together under one public healthcare district and supporting access to essential care for Imperial County residents. This milestone reflects the work and leadership of the IVHD Board of Directors and the broader community.”

Ochoa led the Snell & Wilmer team representing IVHD. The team included Victor J. Roehm III, Josh Schneiderman, Monique Lashbrook, Dana Ontiveros, Greg Gautam, Libby M. Brown, Jim Griffin, and Jordan E. Stroschein. Ochoa advises private clients and public agencies, including health care districts and water and wastewater authorities, on public law issues including governance, operations, and acquisition of public services.

**The result portrayed was dependent on the facts of that case, and the results will differ if based on different facts.