COMMITTEE TO REVIEW PROPOSALS : COUNTY SEEKS PROVIDER TO RUN HOSPITAL, AID NEEDY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Today is the deadline for proposals from health-care firms bidding to take over High Desert Hospital and the needy patients it serves.

Los Angeles County health officials are expected to choose the new operator in December - after a review by a local 17-member committee that will include community representatives.

``We want the hospital to stay open and indigent patients to have some place to go,'' said member Roberta Widmer, administrator of the Visiting Nurse Association's adult day care center and mobile health clinic. ``If we can get a good company to come in and do it without breaking the county, we don't have a problem with that.''

County health officials are seeking an operator to keep High Desert open without providing the annual $14 million subsidy to serve indigents.

Proposals from health-care firms will be evaluated by a committee that includes eight representatives from the community, eight from the hospital, and one from a county employee union, Widmer said.

The community members include Widmer, Lancaster Vice Mayor Henry Hearns, Palmdale School District trustee Helen Acosta and Jim Lott, an Antelope Valley Fair board member and assistant superintendent of support services at the Keppel Union School District. Lott is designated as an alternate.

Four other people from the community have been asked to serve on the committee but have yet to officially respond.

The eight members from the hospital include administrator Mel Grussing; associate administrator Jerry Harris; chief financial officer Rick Britz; medical director Dr. Ruth Oren; chief of pediatrics Dr. Ramasami Mahadaven; chief of internal medicine Dr. Daniel Obleitas; nursing director Dellone Pascascio; and nurse Lisa Faso, Widmer said.

About a half-dozen firms sent representatives to an Oct. 11 conference for potential bidders.

The committee will review and rank the proposals according to criteria it will develop, and pass on their recommendations to county health services director Mark Finucane, officials said.

The process should not take more than a week, depending on the number of proposals that come in, members said.

Hearns said his main concerns are that High Desert continue to serve people who have no money to pay for medical care and that hospital jobs are preserved.

``I personally hope that whoever has applied, that somebody who really cares for the community will get it,'' Hearns said.

What form the new management will take at High Desert will depend on the proposals that materialize. Among the options are an outright purchase of the hospital from the county; management of the facility under a contract; or the creation of a partnership with the county to run the hospital.

County officials said they are looking for a commitment from potential bidders to provide care for people with no medical insurance. About 18.4 percent of those in High Desert's beds and more than 40 percent of its outpatients are unable to pay for their hospital care, officials said.

By comparison, about 5 percent of Antelope Valley Hospital patients are unable to pay.

If county officials decide none of the proposals are adequate, hospital officials said they must find other options to reduce the county subsidy.

One way is High Desert's plan to embark on a public-private partnership to operate its rehabilitation services. A Las Vegas-based consulting firm, Altila Rehabilitation Inc., will be hired to help the hospital manage, market and expand its rehabilitation program to bring in more patients and offset costs for indigent care.

Other options include working with the state Veterans Affairs Department to provide care for clients of a proposed veterans home in Lancaster; seeking a state grant to provide care for tuberculosis patients; and becoming the paid care provider for illegal immigrants the Sheriff's Department has proposed to house at the vacant Mira Loma jail adjoining the hospital.