HOSPITAL ASKED TO TREAT ALL DISTRICT WANTS REQUIREMENT IMPOSED BY CITY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The Antelope Valley Hospital District is asking Palmdale to require a proposed hospital to agree to treat poor people under the state Medi-Cal program, saying such an agreement is a moral responsibility and that it would protect the city from a lawsuit.

On Friday, the district issued a statement saying it was ``taking steps to help the city of Palmdale build a hospital for the entire community'' and released a letter written to City Manager Bob Toone asking the agreement condition be imposed on Universal Health Services.

Mayor Jim Ledford said the city has asked UHS to look into such an agreement and that the company has expressed interest. However, the mayor said it is not proper now to impose such a condition.

``It's too late to impose a condition on a contract that is already signed, sealed, and is moving forward,'' Ledford said Friday.

Bob Trautman, the chief executive officer of UHS' Lancaster Community Hospital, said his firm will look into a Medi-Cal contract, but it was too early to begin the analysis on that for a hospital whose opening is two years away.

``We will continue to see Medi-Cal patients and I'm sure that will only increase with a new Palmdale hospital,'' Trautman said.

The hospital district letter states that without such an agreement, the new hospital would not be able to admit as much as 45 percent of the under-65 Palmdale population, including 75 percent of the obstetrical deliveries.

``Turning away so many patients in need not only conflicts with the major reason the city has advocated for a new hospital in Palmdale, but effectively undermines the basis for substantial taxpayer subsidy to UHS under the city's development agreement,'' wrote Les Wong, the district's chief executive officer.

``A decision by the city of Palmdale to impose a mandatory Medi-Cal participation condition on the new UHS Palmdale facility is essential in order to assure that the new facility is available to all residents in the south valley.''

Wong wrote that such an agreement would ``insulate the development of the new UHS Palmdale facility from a taxpayer challenge as an unjustified gift of public funds.''

The city acquired the site for the new hospital on Tierra Subida Avenue, south of Palmdale Boulevard, and is making street and other improvements for the project.

``When you use public funds to build a hospital, you have a social responsibility and moral obligation to ensure that the hospital serves all our community,'' Dr. John Manning, a hospital district board member, said in a statement issued Friday. ``We know from being a part of this community for more than 50 years that you can't do that without Medi-Cal contracts. That is why we are reaching out to UHS and the city of Palmdale.''

Ledford 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 property taxes assessed on the hospital facilities.

``We will receive all of our investment back,'' Ledford said.

The repayment could be used for a second Palmdale hospital, possibly even one in a partnership with the hospital district, Ledford said.

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.

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.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com