HOSPITALS' RIVALRY REMAINS AFTER VOTE.

Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer

War or peace?

That is the question facing Ventura's two hospitals in the wake of last week's election in which voters blocked construction of a $51 million clinic building and parking garage at the Ventura County Medical Center.

The election was a victory for Community Memorial Hospital, which organized the ballot initiative challenging the county's plans to build the new wing at the public hospital across the street.

With the election over, will the two sides hold out the olive branch or move their longstanding rivalry onto a new battlefield? And will the county seek another way to replace the crumbling buildings at the Ventura County Medical Center?

``Those are the big questions. What now?'' said Dr. Sam Edwards, administrator of the Ventura County Medical Center. ``We're all waiting to see.''

Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo said he hopes to meet with Community Memorial executives sometime in April to hash out questions about any competition for patient dollars and separate missions.

``We have a conflict,'' Schillo said. ``The conflict doesn't just go away because of this election.''

Michael Bakst, executive director of Community Memorial Hospital, said he hopes to reach a rapprochement with the county. He said there is room for the two hospitals to coexist and repeated his call for both sides to cooperate on a joint study of regional health-care needs.

``We'd like to make peace,'' Bakst said. ``We would like to have this behind us and get on with our life and take care of patients.''

But others like Supervisor John Flynn questioned whether the two sides could come together after the bruising election battle.

``That's going to be up to CMH,'' Flynn said about Community Memorial Hospital officials. ``They did not want to meet before. They burned a lot of bridges. I'm not sure they can be repaired.

``I think their goal is still to knock the county out and the clinics. They won their first battle. But, as part of that first battle, they ruined their image, and that did them a lot of harm.''

The county planned to build the five-story ambulatory care center and parking garage to consolidate clinics now dispersed in rented space around the medical center and to replace an array of aging buildings. County officials said the project was needed to serve the growing ranks of poor and uninsured - and would be cheaper than paying rent for 40 years.

``My dietary services are the most critical,'' Edwards said about replacing the medical center kitchen. ``It's literally crumbling away. But the laboratory is close behind.''

But Community Memorial, a private hospital located just blocks away, branded the entire project part of an overall strategy by the county medical center to compete for private patients. And opponents called the project unnecessary and financially risky because it relied on state grants.

Community Memorial launched the ballot initiative last year to prevent the county from issuing $51 million in certificates to finance the new wing. The private hospital poured more than $1.3 million into the campaign to pay for mass mailings, political consultants and attorneys.

More than 62 percent of Ventura County voters in Tuesday's election opposed the county project.

Laura Dahlgren, a CMH nurse and spokeswoman for the group who opposed construction of the county wing, said the two sides should sit down and begin long-term planning together. She said CMH supporters realize that the county medical center needs to replace some aging facilities, but believe county officials should look to existing buildings, rather than new ones.

``You have to have an independent consultant come in and look at the needs of the entire community,'' Dahlgren said. ``What needs to be repaired and what needs to be built? How can we meet those needs with existing bricks and mortar?''

Now county health officials and the Board of Supervisors must chart the next step. Edwards said the medical center's kitchen and lab have been deemed inadequate by the state and must be replaced as soon as possible.