TAXES FOR VCMC RETROFIT? TOBACCO SALES MAY FUND SEISMIC OVERHAUL.

Byline: Jennifer Klein Staff Writer

VENTURA - As the county and private hospitals battle over $250 million in tobacco settlement funds, supervisors are weighing whether some of the money could be used for the county hospital's state-mandated earthquake repairs.

Hospitals face a Jan. 1 deadline to submit retrofitting plans to the state, and the county may rely on tobacco funds to help pay the cost for repairs at Ventura County Medical Center.

While Measure O would prohibit the private hospitals from using the settlement money directly for quake repairs, the extra funds would supplement their budgets, potentially freeing up money for the work.

Supervisor John Flynn said he supports using some of tobacco funds, which the supervisors have pledged to use for health care, to pay for an undetermined amount of retrofitting at VCMC.

``It all goes ultimately to the patient, and this goes to the patient - the safety of the patients,'' Flynn said.

From attaching the roof to the walls at one hospital to ensuring switchboards are bolted down and could withstand a jolt, repairs large and small will be needed at the county's regional medical centers.

All acute care hospitals must file building evaluation and compliance reports with the state, outlining the repairs to be made over the next 30 years, by Jan. 1, 2001. They then must complete the first round of upgrades by 2008 and the final upgrades by 2030.

The California Healthcare Association estimated it will cost $24 billion statewide to comply, coming at a time when 64 percent of hospitals are losing money.

``It's an enormous burden on the hospitals,'' said California Healthcare Association spokeswoman Jan Emerson about the law passed in the wake of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. ``At the same time, the California health care industry supports the need to do this.''

The estimated price tags range, depending on size and age of buildings, from $6 million to $8 million for Los Robles Regional Medical Center to $50 million for Community Memorial Hospital.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said VCMC's retrofitting could cost between $6 million and $8 million, but Chief Deputy Administrative Officer Bert Bigler said a study on the repairs and costs has not yet been completed.

Bigler said supervisors will ultimately decide how to spend the settlement money but, for now, tobacco funds are the only identified source for VCMC's repairs.

``The only specific identified source is tobacco settlement funds,'' Bigler said. ``But there could be other general fund sources or state and federal money later.''

The repairs come as the county is battling the Community Memorial Hospital-backed Measure O, which would transfer the county's $10 million in tobacco settlement funds over the next 25 years to the county's private hospitals, if approved by voters in November.

In the county's opinion the seismic retrofitting of VCMC would be consistent with the Board of Supervisors' pledge to use the entire $250 million in settlement money only for health care, Bigler said.

``If we don't do the seismic retrofit then we would potentially be in a position to shut down or move elsewhere,'' Bigler said. ``It's all health care related.''

However, Schillo said while the tobacco money could go for capital improvements to VCMC's labs, which directly contribute to health care, he wouldn't support it going to retrofitting.

``My personal belief is all of it should go to health care, and that would not be health care,'' Schillo said. ``We are going to have to fund it some other way. We've been faced with other crises in the past, and we've solved them.''

Most of the private hospitals said they will absorb the costs through their operations budgets, loans and bonds.

CMH has not yet determined which accounts its repair money would come from, a spokesman said. Los Robles expects to receive money from its parent company Hospital Corporation America.

The St. John's hospitals will probably have the repairs financed by the Catholic Healthcare West corporate operations budgets or potential bond financing, officials said.

Santa Paula Memorial Hospital's initial $50,000 in repairs will come from its operations budget, but future funding is uncertain, officials said.

A Simi Valley Hospital spokeswoman said the hospital has not yet determined costs and funding sources. Ojai Valley Community Hospital did not return numerous phone calls.

``This is extremely serious for the hospitals. To put it into perspective, without any mitigation, the retrofitting costs would add $233 to every hospital bill for every Southern California patient for the next 30 years,'' said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Healthcare Association of Southern California.

Lott said a series of four bills passed by the Legislature and awaiting Gov. Gray Davis' signature would extend the deadlines, pushing back the January 2001 requirement as well as the actual construction deadlines.

``That would provide some relief for the hospitals. The urgency of creating plans by 2001 would be relieved,'' Lott said.

``Some of the hospitals are depending on this legislation to be signed, and that might not be prudent.''