June 6, 2008

Public buildings, hospitals must be earthquake-safe

By Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr.
Special to the Times

The deadly earthquake that devastated Sichuan Province in China is a grim reminder that we must ensure our key public safety and health buildings can withstand major quakes. 

If the buildings that house our emergency first-responders are destroyed, our ability to save lives, give, and receive help, will be severely compromised and possibly lead to even more casualties.

Playing a crucial role in any catastrophe are our hospitals. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center—a county-owned and operated hospital that provided more than 700,000 out-patient and emergency visits last year—would serve as a hub for medical care in the event of a crippling temblor.

If Valley Med were to be red-tagged in the wake of a quake, we would not only lose access to a high-level trauma center but also our regional burn center, which is only one of two located north of Los Angeles. It is also home to a high-risk maternity program, neonatal intensive care unit, and a renowned rehabilitation center.

Valley Med and other hospitals up and down the state face another looming problem: They must meet a state-mandated 2013 deadline to bring their structures up or face the closure of those facilities. The 1994 law was passed in the aftermath of quakes that severely damaged hospitals. About half of California’s 1,100 hospitals need $110 billion in seismic safety improvements, according to a Rand Corp. study last year. 

When lawmakers established the 2013 deadline 14 years ago, it was initially believed that state funds would be available to assist hospitals in paying for expensive retrofits or new construction. But, the state has not been able to provide its promised financial support, leaving some hospitals in the lurch as construction costs rise and as the deadline nears. 

For the past two years, I have tried to address this critical need through legislation. But each time the Appropriations Committee has chosen to not pass it despite the fact there is no cost to the state.

This session, I introduced Assembly Bill 1929—legislation that provides hospitals with high-level trauma centers, including Valley Med, with a way to finance expensive seismic retrofits or new construction in order to comply with mandated safety standards and also meet the deadline.

The bill basically allows hospitals with Level I or Level II trauma centers to issue bonds to cover the absence of state funding in order to draw down federal Medicaid reimbursement funds.

Despite AB 1929’s failure to get out of committee, I will continue to look for solutions to this dire problem that our hospitals face. 

Keeping Valley Med’s infrastructure “healthy’’ keeps our region healthy. If the hospital cannot meet the deadline it could lose half of its 524 beds. 

Losing those beds have a disastrous consequence with ripple affects throughout Santa Clara County. Locally, there are just 1.7 beds for every 1,000 residents compared to the national average of 2.8 beds per 1,000.  

Valley Med—the biggest hospital in Santa Clara County—plays an instrumental role in the vitality and daily life of Silicon Valley. For example:
 
--More than 300 patients a day come into Valley Med’s emergency department. The hospital staff speaks 148 languages.

--More than 25 percent of the county’s population has come to the hospital and its eight clinics for health services, according to a 2003-2006 survey of patients.

--Valley Med has developed community guidelines to cope with 19 types of emergencies that range from bio-terrorism to a pandemic flu.

With California’s population continuing to grow and the Baby Boomer generation graying, we have to keep our hospitals prepared to handle any emergency whether there is a disaster or not.