Audit Cites Peril in Illegal Building at Medical Facilities

The lives of patients and staff members at hospitals, nursing homes and clinics in California may be endangered by illegal construction done without required earthquake-safety permits and inspections, according to a legislative audit released Wednesday.

Even when the agency responsible for inspecting such work has discovered unauthorized construction in progress, it has done too little to stop the work or penalize the people who directed it, acting Auditor General Kurt R. Sjoberg said in the report.

Administrators in the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development said they agree with the auditor general’s criticisms and will implement most of his recommendations. But they said they believe that the problem primarily involves documentation and that the public’s health and safety are not in danger.

“We think these facilities are safe,” said Merrill Jacobs, the office’s chief deputy director. “The process has not been observed in all cases.”

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development was created in response to the collapse of the Olive View Medical Center in the 1971 San Fernando Valley earthquake, which killed three people. The office is responsible for reviewing building plans and inspecting work on everything from major hospital construction to minor remodeling, in order to ensure that medical facilities are able to withstand earthquakes.

The 51-page report, the product of a seven-month investigation, found at least 103 cases between July, 1988, and June, 1989, in which construction work was begun without approval. In 14 cases, inspectors found the unauthorized work unsatisfactory.

But in only one of those 14 instances did the inspector order that the unpermitted work be stopped, even though the office stated in response to an earlier audit that it would issue stop-work orders in all cases of unauthorized construction. “As a result, the facilities may be unsafe and may endanger patients and staff,” the audit said.

Auditor General Sjoberg said the projects ranged from the installation of X-ray equipment to the remodeling of an emergency room and the installation of propane tanks and gas lines. Specific locations were not listed in the report and were not available Wednesday.