CITY: NO HOSPITAL GIFT UHS FACILITY PROMISES TO TAKE MEDI-CAL PATIENTS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The public relations battle over the construction of a new hospital shows no signs of abating.

The city has sent a scathing letter to the Antelope Valley Hospital District denying that the city's financial aid for the private hospital is an improper gift of public funds.

Meanwhile, A.V. hospital officials rebutted city criticisms of their own efforts in Palmdale and made a conditional offer of support for the private hospital.

The battle centers on what city officials view as an attempt by the hospital district to block Universal Health Services from building an $82 million hospital complex at 38400 Tierra Subida Road.

The hospital district made a bid June 1, the day before Universal and city officials held a groundbreaking ceremony, offering to buy the site for $9.3 million.

``I continue to be astonished that the district would block this private hospital in-the-hand and provide nothing more than its continued illusory promise of an AVHD hospital 'someday,''' City Attorney Matt Ditzhazy wrote. ``I am very confident that the district's efforts to stop the construction of a hospital in Palmdale will be rejected by the courts, the public and its own employees.''

``Further, the district's threats of eminent domain and pledge to build a district hospital in Palmdale are nothing more than idle threats and empty promises.''

The Palmdale letter was written in response to allegations made by Les Wong, the district's chief executive officer, that the city made an improper gift of public funds when it helped UHS secure the hospital site.

In a July 15 letter, Wong said the city's agreement with UHS was an ``enormous subsidy'' for a for-profit company whose operations would ``adversely affect the neediest of our population.''

``As currently structured, we believe that the proposed transaction does not meet a public interest and represents an unwarranted gift of public funds,'' Wong wrote. ``There are insufficient guarantees to assure that the proposed Palmdale hospital will be operated in such a manner so as to assure the availability of a full range of needed health care services to all segments of the Palmdale community, not just the affluent.''

Ditzhazy said the land was not a gift, but was provided in consideration for the construction of a hospital, at no cost to the taxpayers. The city's agreement with UHS requires the company to continue to operate a hospital until the city receives $5 million in tax increments.

``While losing millions, continuing cost overruns and delays on every project it undertakes, and paying hundreds of thousands to buy out former CEOs, it is reprehensible at best that the district would imply that `for-profit' hospitals are bad, unfair or somehow negative for a community,'' Ditzhazy wrote.

Hospital district officials also fired salvos in the public relations battle, filing court papers refuting city allegations that the hospital board violated the Brown Act, the state's open meeting law. In July, the city filed papers seeking a court order to scrap a district offer to buy the Palmdale site, an offer city officials view as a first step toward eminent domain proceedings to forcibly acquire the property.

District officials also passed a resolution on Aug. 30 offering to support the new hospital provided UHS maintains a 35-bed emergency room and enters into a contract to provide services for poor people covered by the state's Medi-Cal program.

``The district believes it is our moral obligation to ensure that any new hospital in Palmdale receiving public funds must serve all patients in need, with a full and permanent Medi-Cal contract,'' the district's resolution reads.

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

Robert Trautman, chief executive officer of UHS's Lancaster Community Hospital, said the Palmdale hospital will open with the 35 emergency room beds. As for the Medi-Cal contract, Trautman said it is too early for the company to make a decision on any of its health care contracts for the Palmdale hospital.

Trautman said the new hospital will see its share of indigent and underinsured patients.

``We will see and admit Medi-Cal patients by virtue of the fact they will show up at the E.R. and there are no other beds,'' Trautman said. ``We will be seeing these patients regardless of whether we have a contract. It's a moot issue.''

The Antelope Valley Hospital board felt it necessary to pass a formal resolution to counter accounts in the local news media that focused on the eminent domain issue.

``The press has printed eminent domain stuff that we are not talking about. It looks like we don't support having another hospital in Palmdale. That's never been what we said. We do support a hospital in Palmdale. We want a hospital to take care of the community,'' Antelope Valley Hospital board member June Snow said.

``We need a hospital in Palmdale to help carry the burden. We need a hospital that will truly help and take care of patients who need to be taken care of, not just people with money,'' Snow said.

As for whether the eminent domain idea has been dropped, Snow said, ``We are not actively talking about it at the moment.''

In its court filing, the city alleges that the hospital board violated California's Ralph M. Brown Act by discussing the site acquisition in a closed session when that issue was not listed on the agenda. The agenda did not identify the site, the property negotiators, or with whom officials were negotiating, according to the court filing.

The city also alleges that hospital officials discussed the use of eminent domain to acquire the land before making an offer to purchase the property.

Hospital officials denied the city's allegations, stating that the board and administrators worked with legal counsel throughout the process to ensure no laws were violated. Wong called the accusations ``totally bogus.''

Staff writer Karen Maeshiro contributed to this report.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com