PALMDALE MAY GET HOSPITAL; CITY-COMMISSIONED STUDY FINDS PROPOSAL TO BE FEASIBLE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

A consultant's report stating Palmdale can support a hospital with 100 to 120 beds is drawing interest from private companies and Antelope Valley Hospital officials, who are proposing a partnership with Los Angeles County to bring inpatient care to the city.

Calling the Antelope Valley ``under-bedded,'' the consultant's report said Palmdale and surrounding areas could support a hospital with as many as 120 beds, but recommends 75 to 100 beds. A 75-bed hospital would cost $56 million to $75 million, while a 100-bed hospital would cost up to $100 million, according to a report prepared by the Camden Group, an El Segundo firm hired by the city.

Palmdale city officials are negotiating with an unnamed private group for the development and operation of the hospital. A proposal probably will be coming to the City Council for consideration in the near future, Mayor Jim Ledford said.

``Ultimately, we will have a full-blown hospital,'' Ledford said. ``The market is too great to ignore.''

The board of the Antelope Valley Healthcare District, the public agency that operates the 352-bed Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, also is proposing a joint effort with Los Angeles County to build a 50-bed hospital in Palmdale. The cost would be about $50 million.

In an Oct. 1 letter to County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, the board said the district would be willing to commit $4 million and 40 acres on Palmdale's east side to the project.

The county operates High Desert Hospital on Lancaster's west side.

``After discussions with local health services officials, we believe that it would be viable for the county to maintain limited services at High Desert Hospital while also operating the proposed South Antelope Valley Hospital,'' the hospital district's letter says. ``The majority of inpatient services provided by High Desert Hospital are either of a long-term care or acute speciality nature, and these services would not be included in the proposed new hospital.''

Ledford said city officials are willing to work with any organization to bring a hospital to Palmdale but questioned whether the hospital district or the county has the financial ability to build a Palmdale hospital.

``That would require a real squeezing of their budget, and that's problematic,'' Ledford said.

The hospital district must commit up to $55 million to make state-mandated earthquake safety modifications to Antelope Valley Hospital, and county officials at one point were considering closing High Desert Hospital because of budget problems, Ledford said.

The city has committed to providing up to $2 million worth of road improvements, utility lines and other infrastructure to help bring a hospital to Palmdale.

The city also has agreed to commit $700,000 to a hospital project that includes housing for senior citizens.

Palmdale has been without a hospital since Desert Palms closed its doors in 1996. The closure was blamed on low occupancy because of few referrals from physicians, rising costs for indigent care and inability to expand its range of services because of construction restraints at a site too close to a major earthquake fault line.

Camden Group interviewers found that Desert Palms was never strongly favored by physicians and suffered from image problems, according to the report.

The Antelope Valley hospital district, Los Angeles County and the city jointly financed a clinic in Palmdale after the hospital closed. The county and district later also established a clinic in Lake Los Angeles and have proposed establishing a clinic in Littlerock.

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Photo: (Color) Desert Palms Hospital in Palmdale remains closed, but a new report indicates a hospital at another site in the city would be feasible. Officials of public agencies and a private group are discussing the potential.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News