Hospital Will Take Medi-Cal Maternity Cases to Relieve UCI

A Garden Grove hospital’s decision to begin accepting maternity patients covered by Medi-Cal will help alleviate overcrowded conditions that have threatened patient safety at UCI Medical Center, a UCI spokeswoman said Friday.

However, the gain might be short-lived if another county hospital decides to drop out of the Medi-Cal program as it has threatened, according to UCI Medical Center spokeswoman Fran Tardiff.

Meanwhile, a controversial policy to turn away some women in labor from the medical center in Orange because of overcrowding will remain in place indefinitely, Tardiff added.

Officials of AMI Medical Center of Garden Grove agreed Thursday to begin accepting maternity patients for a six-month period begining June 7. The hospital expects to handle about 100 pregnancies a month that otherwise would go to UCI Medical Center. Officials of the AMI center could not be reached for comment Friday.

State’s First Such Deal

The arrangement is the first in the state in which a hospital has agreed to contract with Medi-Cal to serve only obstetrics patients for a limited time.

The hospital has the option of expanding the range of services it offers Medi-Cal patients at the end of the six months.

The agreement comes at a time when many other hospitals have ended or are considering ending their Medi-Cal contracts because of concerns about low reimbursement rates for services to all Medi-Cal patients, including pregnant women. Representatives of the California Medical Assistance Commission, which negotiates Medi-Cal contracts, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The focus of the Medi-Cal problem shifted to maternity care when UCI Medical Center announced June 2 that because of overcrowded conditions, it would post security guards at its entrance and ask women seeking obstetrics care to use other hospitals when its emergency room and obstetrics wards were full. The policy to turn away women in labor has been put into effect four times since it was adopted, and a total of 10 women were advised to seek treatment elsewhere.

UCI officials estimate that 90% of the pregnant women admitted to the medical center are poor and have received no prenatal care. And they have argued that the hospital should not have to carry the burden of caring for most of the county’s indigent patients who are covered by Medi-Cal.

Will Develop Details

Tardiff said the details of how and when UCI Medical Center patients would be referred to the Garden Grove hospital remain to be worked out.

“We are still talking about how it will all take place, how we will transfer and refer patients. But the idea is that 100 patients who would normally deliver (babies) here will go there instead,” Tardiff said. “It should ease our load to a great extent.”

Despite the controversial diversion policy, Tardiff said, only two women have sought maternal care elsewhere. By early Friday, the hospital had delivered 551 babies so far this year, about 300 more than its obstetrics unit is designed to handle, she said.

The already strapped UCI Medical Center could face more problems if Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center drops its Medi-Cal contract when it expires on Thursday.

The Fountain Valley hospital now delivers about 150 babies a month to Medi-Cal patients. Many of the poor women who use the Fountain Valley facility would be left with few options other than the UCI Medical Center for maternal care.

Fountain Valley administrator George Rooth said if the hospital does not receive a higher rate of compensation for serving Medi-Cal patients, it will end its Medi-Cal contract.

“We are down to the deadline and we have not received a satisfactory offer,” Rooth said. “I am hoping it can be resolved . . . but at this point I am pessimistic.”