California medical center is cool to suitor Prime Healthcare

Culver City, CA-based Brotman Medical Center filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007, and its financial condition continues to look bleak as it searches for buyers willing to help pay off its large debt and invest in its aging buildings and equipment. One of its potential suitors is Prime Healthcare Services Inc., a fast-growing California hospital chain. Brotman executives have spurned Prime's overtures, however, because they are worried about some of its business practices, such as cutting hospital services and canceling private insurance contracts.