Cedars Will Open $2.5-Million AIDS Treatment Center

After months of infighting among physicians and staff members, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center approved plans Tuesday for a $2.5-million AIDS treatment center that will include 24 beds, a 24-hour outpatient clinic and a scientific research unit for studying the AIDS virus.

The vote by hospital directors clears the way for construction of the unit and the recruitment of nurses and administrators to operate it, spokesman Ron Wise said. Although the 45 directors made no projection on when the unit will open, they voiced strong support for the project and directed hospital planning groups to begin working out final details, Wise said.

The ambitious unit probably will begin operating later this year or in 1990, he said.

No Long Delay

“It is going to happen,” the spokesman said, “and we’re not talking about years.”

The action drew quick and enthusiastic praise from health-care experts, particularly in light of Cedars’ importance as an AIDS-treatment hospital. The 1,015-bed medical center serves portions of Los Angeles and West Hollywood that have been severely hit by the epidemic. It now serves about 20 AIDS patients at a time, but those patients are scattered throughout the hospital.

“It is all-important . . . hallelujah!” Frank Paradise, chief of AIDS Project Los Angeles, said of the unit for Cedars. “That is the only hospital central to where the AIDS crisis is (in Los Angeles). In an emergency situation . . . that is where the patients are going to go.”

The center will bring those patients into one unit and provide medical treatment and counseling tailored to their needs. The unit will become only the sixth of its kind in Los Angeles County, including one now being developed at County-USC Medical Center. The largest existing programs are run at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital in Van Nuys and Century City Hospital.

Plan Hotly Contested

The Cedars unit became the subject of controversy early this year, when factions within the hospital began fighting over whether to go forward with it. In earlier advisory votes, physicians and obstetrical employees voted to reject the plan, arguing that Cedars should not devote space and staffing to an AIDS unit at a time when it is also launching ambitious heart, liver and lung transplant units.

“There’s a lot of apprehension that the hospital might be going too fast into new programs,” Dr. Kenneth Elconin, one leading opponent of the project, said earlier. “There are worries the hospital is really overextending itself.”

The issue became inflamed by charges that physicians were reluctant to operate on AIDS patients for fear of contracting the virus. Physicians acknowledged that operating on AIDS patients creates a risk, but they strongly denied that was a factor in their opposition.

Other hospital groups--including nurses, pediatricians and administrators, among others--expressed support for the unit before the vote by directors. Supporters noted that funding for the unit is being offered by private donors--relatives and friends of Sheldon Andelson, a former University of California regent who was considered a pioneer of gay rights before his death from AIDS in 1987.

Dr. Neil Schram, a member of the AIDS Committee for the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., said the center could play an important role in prolonging the life of AIDS sufferers. He noted that the American Medical Assn. is publishing a study this week that compares the mortality rates of AIDS at 15 California hospitals--seven that were well-experienced in handling AIDS and eight with relatively little experience.

The yearlong study found that patients lived substantially longer when treated by doctors and nurses who deal regularly with AIDS. Under the care of those doctors, Schram said, the mortality rate from pneumocystic pneumonia--a leading cause of death due to AIDS--was reported at 12.2%.

But at the less experienced hospitals, the mortality rate from the same type of pneumonia was found to be 33.3%, he said.

Although Cedars already would qualify as an experienced hospital, Schram added, the establishment of an AIDS unit there can only bolster that experience. The AMA is now recommending such units as a way to deal with AIDS.

Morris Kight, founder of the Hollywood-based Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, said a number of community groups had lobbied heavily for the unit, deluging Cedars with letters and phone calls.

He thanked directors for approving the proposal but added that he “could never understand” the internal controversy about the unit.

“They’re in the profession of healing, improving the quality of life,” he said of the hospital staff members. “What a dreadful decision it would be to turn down such a ward.”