HOSPITAL SURPLUS $6 MILLION; EXTRA FUNDS SLATED FOR REPAIRS, PALMDALE CLINIC.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Hospital finished the 1997-98 fiscal year with an operating budget Noun 1. operating budget - a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements budget items, operating cost, operating expense, overhead - the expense of maintaining property (e.g. surplus of more than $6.2 million, down 7.6 percent from the previous year but $600,000 ahead of projections, an audit shows. Hospital officials said they served more patients than expected due to a growing population, the pediatric pediatric /pe·di·at·ric/ (pe?de-at´rik) pertaining to the health of children. pe·di·at·ric adj. Of or relating to pediatrics. intensive care unit and other new services, and new health plan contracts. ``I think we're virtually on target on what we thought we needed to achieve,'' said Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (b. 19 May 1931, Hendon, London - d. 14 August 1967, Northampton) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racecar driver from England. , interim chief executive officer for the hospital. ``At the same time, we did that and were able to give employees a lump-sum bonus, which was not budgeted.'' Instead of pay hikes, the hospital in June doled out Adj. 1. doled out - given out in portions apportioned, dealt out, meted out, parceled out distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up $1.5 million in bonuses to most of its 1,700 employees as a reward for the hospital's strong financial performance. It worked out to about $1,100 for the typical worker making $18 an hour. The year-end financial results were contained in a financial audit released Tuesday. It will be discussed today at the hospital board meeting. As a public hospital, surplus income must be invested back into equipment, facilities or services. ``We have a number of challenges. We're funding primarily equipment and trying to keep abreast Verb 1. keep abreast - keep informed; "He kept up on his country's foreign policies" keep up, follow trace, follow - follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something; "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba" ; "trace the of new technology,'' Anderson said. One of the projects that money will be set aside for is the replacement of older sections of the hospital built in 1954 that must be replaced by 2008 to meet seismic safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. , Anderson said. The total cost for that is estimated at $60 million, Anderson said. Money also will be invested in building health care facilities in Palmdale and the surrounding south valley, Anderson said. Palmdale's only hospital closed in March 1996. Rather than build a hospital in Palmdale, a consultant recommended that Antelope Valley Hospital develop a $4 million ``healthplex'' that would provide primary and urgent care and a birthing center birthing center n. A medical facility, often associated with a hospital, that is designed to provide a comfortable, homelike setting during childbirth and that is generally less restrictive than a hospital in its regulations, as in permitting midwifery . The hospital board in June adopted a $142 million 1998-99 operating budget that called for the first hikes in room rates since 1991 to offset an expected decline in Medicare reimbursements. For the first two months of the current fiscal year, net income has fallen short of projections by 29 percent. ``We are starting off slower than we would have liked. It's basically reimbursement rates are not quite what we expected,'' Anderson said. |
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