HOSPITAL WARD MAY BE CLOSED PSYCHIATRIC UNIT FACES MORE FINANCIAL LOSSES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Mounting financial losses have Antelope Valley Hospital officials considering whether to close the hospital's psychiatric ward, the only acute inpatient mental health unit in the Antelope Valley.

Already downsized from 30 beds to 12 beds, the ward averages seven to eight patients a day and has been losing $1.5 million a year for several years because most of its patients have little or no insurance coverage or are on Medi-Cal, whose payments don't cover costs, officials said.

``We are trying to keep it open.'' hospital board member Dr. John Manning said. ``We have to balance the whole needs of the entire hospital and community at large. No one is denying the necessary care that these people need. The problem is how do we deliver it.''

Antelope Valley mental health officials say the ward has saved lives and should not be closed.

Judy Cooperberg, director of Antelope Valley programs of the Mental Health Association, was critical of the hospital targeting the mental health ward when other hospital departments are also in the same situation.

``They have the same percentage of Medi-Cal and no insurance in other areas, but they are not talking about closing these other areas,'' Cooperberg said. ``(Mental health is) an easy target. It always has been.''

The board heard public comments about the issue at its meeting last week. No decision has been made on what to do about the unit, and the hospital has been talking with Los Angeles County officials to provide the hospital financial assistance.

``The financial situation is driving how to figure out how to best keep it open,'' hospital spokeswoman Jackie Weder said. ``Antelope Valley Hospital doesn't get assistance from the county. The county closed High Desert Hospital. We are looking for financial assistance from the county.''

People at the board meeting gave wrenching accounts of their experiences with mental illness and how the ward helped them.

``One of the comments was, the unit really helped them live through very difficult times, and people who were suicidal and were just at bottom, the unit saved their life,'' Cooperberg said. ``They really believe they would not be here.''

Cooperberg said the hospital should be focusing on improving mental health services, not cutting them. In 1988, when Palmdale had a hospital, there were 75 mental health beds in the Antelope Valley, Cooperberg noted. Palmdale's hospital closed in 1996.

A local United Way official said having no mental health unit could impact the ability of social agencies to obtain critical funding.

``Most important to our charities, without a local mental health unit, it could impact our ability to qualify for funds,'' said Diane Grooms, United Way regional vice president. ``Many of the funders that fund nonprofits require what they call a compendium of care, meaning a full access to services in the area where they are served. If we no longer have inpatient services available, we may as a community not qualify for outpatient services that are left.''

The mental health unit has never been profitable, hospital officials said.

``When we work in a budget cycle, we have to be fiscally responsible,'' said Leon Choiniere, vice president of finance. ``We don't receive any additional funding. We are not a county hospital. We are a district hospital. We don't receive any tax money. Without any tax money, we have to balance the budget within our own means.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com