CITY SUES HOSPITAL DISTRICT 24-HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICES SOUGHT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The city has sued the Antelope Valley Hospital District, claiming it is not living up to an agreement to provide 24-hour non- critical emergency care and expedited ambulance service at its eastside clinic.

In a lawsuit filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, Palmdale is seeking a court order to force the hospital district to provide the 24-hour emergency and ambulance service at the clinic, 38350 40th Street East. The city is alleging the district is not honoring a June 2000 agreement to provide those services in exchange for up to $1 million in street, utility and other improvements made to aid the clinic's construction.

The clinic provides service 16 hours a day, not 24, and provides no ambulance service.

Les Wong, the hospital's chief executive officer, said legal staffers were still reviewing the lawsuit and that the district could not comment at this time.

The lawsuit also cites the vacancy of physician office suites built as part of the project. Although the agreement does not specify the suites have to be occupied, Palmdale officials said the hospital district is violating the spirit of the agreement, which was aimed at providing health care services and not to just provide the space to conduct them.

The city alleges that the district breached the contract again when it entered into a lease agreement with Los Angeles County for the use of the entire first floor of the clinic. The agreement allows for the district to lease out space as long as doing so doesn't block the required services.

The agreement also calls for the city to approve the lease.

``The district's lease to the county effectively precluded the district from providing the agreed emergency care and ambulance services at the facility because no ground-level space remained available for those services,'' the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit filing is the latest salvo in a public relations battle over what city officials view as an attempt by the 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. City officials view that offer as a prelude to the district attempting to forcibly acquire the site through eminent domain proceedings.

Hospital officials said that while eminent domain is an option, it is not being actively pursued.

In July, the city filed papers seeking a court order to scrap a district offer to buy the Palmdale site. In its court filing, the city alleges that the hospital board violated California's open meeting law by discussing the site acquisition in a closed session when that issue was not listed on the agenda.

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.''

District officials 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.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com