AVH OFFERS TO BUY RIVAL SITE HOSPITAL WOULD PAY $9.3 MILLION FOR PALMDALE FACILITY LAND.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley Hospital officials on Wednesday offered to pay Palmdale $9.3 million for the land set aside for a competing private hospital, a day before the project's ceremonial groundbreaking.

AVH officials said they are willing to pay nearly double the $5.2 million the city spent acquiring the land on Tierra Subida Road, south of Palmdale Boulevard, and want to build their own hospital there.

``We are looking out for the needs of everyone in the community; that is our bottom line,'' Antelope Valley Hospital CEO Les Wong said in a press conference on the offer, which hospital officials said represents the land's current market value.

City officials said they were not interested in selling to the hospital district. They said they will proceed with the private hospital being proposed by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, with whom Palmdale officials have been working for four years.

``Even though it's a substantial profit, that is not why we are making this effort,'' Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``Our effort is to bring a full-service hospital to Palmdale, and we are not going to be deterred and we are moving forward.''

Construction of Universal's Palmdale Regional Medical Center is expected to take 18 months to two years to complete.

AVH officials fear that a new private hospital in Palmdale will draw off patients with insurance, leaving Antelope Valley Hospital caring for a higher percentage of patients unable to pay for their treatment.

``The goal of UHS is to send their profits back to shareholders on the East Coast. As long as this continues to be their sole objective, we will continue to fight for our patients and the residents of this valley,'' Wong said.

Antelope Valley Hospital is operated by a government agency - the Antelope Valley Healthcare District - with an elected board of directors.

Wong had no specific time frame as to how long it would take to build a hospital, which requires state approval of building plans. If Palmdale refuses to sell the land, Wong said, there has been no decision on whether to go to court to acquire it through eminent domain.

``We are going to have to go back and re-evaluate our situation,'' Wong said.

Officials at UHS, which operates Lancaster Community Hospital, said they are looking forward to providing more services to Antelope Valley residents. All businesses need to be profitable, they said.

``Yes, we like to keep shareholders happy. We need to be profitable. We have to pay for staff, supplies and equipment. With today's technology, things are costing more and more money,'' said David Sell, a spokesman at Lancaster Community Hospital. ``You have to be profitable to provide the latest equipment to treat patients and continue quality patient care.''

While Antelope Valley Hospital has a clinic on the city's east side at 40th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard that was once touted as the site of a future hospital, Wong said the west-side site is better because that's where the region's population growth will occur.

``We've done studies. That site is the most centrally located area,'' Wong said.

Wong said the hospital had tried to reach a partnership agreement with UHS.

``We tried to work with them for the past 18 months to try to partner and to have synergy for everyone involved in health care,'' Wong said. ``With profit being their primary goal, we weren't able to reach a middle ground.''

Antelope Valley Hospital announced last month that it will be able to secure a $300 million loan to build a hospital in Palmdale. ``We have the financing secured. We are ready to move forward,'' Wong said.

Also speaking at the AVH press conference was chief of staff Dr. Anil Kumar and emergency room registered nurse Coleen Harkins.

``It's important that whatever hospital is built in Palmdale that it's for all residents of the Antelope Valley regardless of their ability to pay,'' Kumar said.

``I just wanted to let you know we are here for the community. Our bottom line is the patient,'' Harkins said.

Aside from pursuing a loan, Antelope Valley Hospital officials said they are also thinking of asking voters in November to approve taxing property owners to pay for a new Palmdale hospital and renovating the Lancaster facility.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Antelope Valley Hospital officials on Wednesday offered to buy the site on Tierra Subida Road in Palmdale that has been set aside for a competing, privately run hospital.

(2) Antelope Valley Hospital CEO Les Wong, center, is joined by nurse Coleen Harkins and M.D. chief of staff Anil Kumar at a press conference Wednesday.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer