A NEW LIFE FOR COUNTY HOSPITAL FACILITY COULD ACQUIRE PACT TO TREAT INMATES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - High Desert Hospital is one of several hospitals that the state Department of Corrections is looking to use as a facility to provide long-term medical care to ailing state prison inmates.

Supporters of county-run High Desert, who are trying to save the hospital from closure, say landing such a contract could potentially generate up to $5 million in revenue annually.

``Just because they are in prison doesn't mean they don't have the same health-care issues that everyone else has; some may need acute care or some may need transitional care,'' said Gary Hill, a member of High Desert's advisory council and Antelope Valley Hospital's board chairman. ``The idea is to consolidate it at High Desert. The cost of transporting is less, you've got them all in one secure area, and there's less cost for guards.''

Talks with the Department of Corrections is one part of the plan being developed by the hospital's advisory council to generate revenue for the hospital to keep it open.

County health officials have said that keeping High Desert open would require a plan that would produce at least $9.8 million annually in revenue.

The county wants to eliminate inpatient services at High Desert Hospital and convert it to an outpatient clinic beginning May 2003 as part of a cost-saving measure.

Converting High Desert to an outpatient clinic would produce a net savings of $9.8 million in the 2003-04 fiscal year; $11.1 million in the 2004-05 fiscal year; and $12.5 million in the year after that, a county report shows.

The advisory committee must submit a plan to the county before an Aug. 20 public hearing on High Desert's conversion to a clinic.

``I know we do need a place for long-term care for inmates,'' said Russ Heimerich, a Department of Corrections spokesman. ``To that extent we are interested in all options. As far as this particular hospital, I think it's one of three or four that we are looking at.''

Heimerich said the department has a long-term care facility at the California Medical Center at Vacaville, but that facility is getting crowded.

There also is skilled nursing and long-term care offered at one of the women's prisons, and the department has had to contract out with private hospitals to care for inmates who suffer illnesses such as kidney failure and cancer.

``We have an inmate population that is generally unhealthy,'' Heimerich said. ``We are seeing the inmate population age somewhat. We are thinking ahead for long-term care. It's not an acute need right now. It will be as the population continues to age.''

Hill said one possibility is a contract with the Department of Corrections for between 45 to 50 beds to provide ongoing care and treatment for inmates.

The advisory council also has been meeting with representatives of private medical groups and Antelope Valley Hospital and Lancaster Community Hospital.

``If patients could be placed at High Desert Hospital in long-term care, it could free up more beds for people who come in through the emergency room,'' said Norm Hickling, assistant administrator at private High Desert Medical Group - which is not connected to High Desert Hospital - and an advisory council member.

``We're still negotiating, still talking numbers and business plans,'' Hickling said.

High Desert Medical Group has in the past sent its patients to High Desert Hospital for long-term inpatient acute care after having surgery.

``We have a fast-track contract where you negotiate on each individual patient on an as-needed basis,'' Hickling said. ``What we would like to do is potentially have 10 beds that we would have filled at any one time in their skilled nursing unit there.''

A county staff report said High Desert Hospital in fiscal year 2000-01 provided inpatient services to about 1,000 people. Of those, about 400, or 37 percent, were uninsured.

Of the uninsured, the report said, only about 150 lived in the Antelope Valley service planning area, which covers from Acton to Avenue A, the county line.

In the previous fiscal year, the hospital had 1,340 patients, of which 350 were uninsured residents of the Antelope Valley, the report said.

The health department cuts, the largest since the fiscal crisis in 1995, are county officials' first steps toward closing a projected a health-services deficit of $800 million by 2005-06.

If no new federal or state funding is obtained, the supervisors expect to make further cuts in October.

Health officials said an outpatient program at High Desert could serve more people than the hospital does now, with no emergency room and money for only 82 beds.

This is the third time in seven years that the county has threatened High Desert with closure or cutbacks.