Endorsement Will Help Needy and Taxpayers

People in Ventura County are asking: Why would a private, nonprofit hospital pay for an incredibly expensive, viciously negative campaign against the Ventura County Medical Center’s efforts to build an outpatient clinic building?

It hardly seems to be the stuff of high political drama. Yet, Community Memorial Hospital (CMH) has spent (close to) a million dollars to stop the project, and tried to silence physicians, elected officials and community supporters advocating for the project.

It hasn’t worked. Big money will silence some, but not everyone. “Yes on Measure X” is publicly endorsed by the California Nurses Assn., California Academy of Family Physicians, Ventura County Area Council on Aging, state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), former Sen. Gary K. Hart, Service Employees International Union, Oxnard Ministerium and many other local elected officials, including the mayor of Oxnard and all five county supervisors.

Supporters of Measure X are running a positive, nonpartisan effort while the opposition is led and financed by one hospital, and one hospital only: CMH and its confrontational executive Michael Bakst.

The origin of Measure X was a simple proposal. The Ventura County Medical Center applied for and received a grant from the state to build an outpatient care center. The costs not covered by the grant were to be paid by earnings at the county hospital and savings from consolidating clinics. The county planned to finance the project with Certificates of Participation (COPs), used in Ventura County and elsewhere because they do not require a tax increase.

Measure X does not raise taxes. In fact, by using COPs, Ventura County cannot raise taxes to pay for the project.

The county medical center applied for the funds to replace old 1920s-era buildings that were collapsing and could not be repaired. The clinics in those buildings had been forced to move out and rent space off hospital grounds. The county wanted the clinics back on the hospital grounds to eliminate the rental costs and the duplicate staff required by separate clinics. Quality care was also a concern. Having the clinics spread out and inaccessible to physicians and services at the hospital is more than an inconvenience to patients, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Two of the collapsed buildings, the laboratory and the kitchen facilities had to be repaired immediately or the hospital would lose its accreditation. In other words, the project was a matter of survival for Ventura County Medical Center.

Situated across the street from the county medical center, CMH had decided that Ventura wasn’t big enough for both hospitals. It viewed the state grant for the outpatient care center as the leverage point that might force the county out of the health care business. If they could block the state grant, the county hospital would lose its accreditation and the county would be forced to pay CMH to handle all the county’s patients.

CMH launched a referendum petition drive to overturn the county’s acceptance of the state grant. It qualified and the issue was placed on the ballot as Measure X.

The truth is that both hospitals have unique roles. The county treats primarily Medi-Cal and uninsured patients, the poor and working poor. CMH treats Medicare and privately insured patients. CMH has never shown the capacity or the interest in treating the poor.

Records show that CMH has the lowest rate of providing charity care of any hospital in the county, despite its nonprofit status. Two of CMH’s top executives together earn more than what CMH spent on care for the poor in 1995. Yet because of its nonprofit tax status, CMH avoided paying $2.5 million in taxes in 1995.

In contrast, the Ventura County Medical Center is doing its job with less taxpayer support than ever before. It provides quality health care efficiently with a focus on prevention. The primary care clinics spread throughout the county are catching medical problems early before they end up in the emergency room, where medical care is the most expensive. ER visits are down 10% from 1991-94.

If CMH succeeds in destroying this invaluable community resource, it will be a sad day for county residents and taxpayers. Even though 75% of county residents have private insurance, we all benefit from the county health-care system. It is responsible for the control of infectious diseases, it trains the family practice residents who stay in Ventura County and care for our families, it has the best pediatric care clinic in the region, and it is nearly self-sufficient, requiring minimal support from the county general fund.

Please, vote Yes on Measure X. It does not raise taxes. It allows the county to provide quality health care to poor and working families while saving money for Ventura County taxpayers.

Dial is the director of the residency program at Ventura County Medical Center and has campaigned in support of the outpatient clinic project. He is a contributor to Saving Money as Responsible Taxpayers (SMART).