Irwindale Likes Plan for Hospital, Not Site

Irwindale officials say they are pleased that Los Angeles County has selected the city as its preferred site for a proposed San Gabriel Valley Medical Center but are concerned that the 36-acre property designated for the hospital may not be available for it.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to study the feasibility of acquiring land east of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and north of Ramona Boulevard for a 350-bed county hospital. Building the new hospital is part of a plan to reduce the size of the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Irwindale officials said that they want to be home to the hospital--and millions of dollars in tax revenue that it would generate--but that they would prefer it be built at one of two quarries the city has slated for redevelopment.

The property selected by the county is being developed as an industrial park by a Van Nuys construction firm, which is working in conjunction with Irwindale officials. New offices and light-manufacturing businesses have already been built or are planned for half of the 36 acres the county wants for the hospital, Irwindale City Engineer Carlos Alvarado said.

“We would have preferred more consultations with the city before they did this,” Alvarado said of the county action.

Other city officials could not be reached for comment, and Alvarado said Irwindale will not be able to fully evaluate the Ramona Boulevard proposal until it has received specific plans.

The city had hoped that one of two other sites would be selected: a property east of the 605 Freeway and south of Los Angeles Street owned by Calmat Co., or a site west of the 605 and north of Live Oak Avenue owned by United Rock Product Corp. Either of the quarries--the second of which had once been designated as a football stadium for the Los Angeles Raiders-- could be filled to ground level and used for construction, Alvarado said.

Alvarado said he does not know why county officials prefer the Ramona Boulevard property, which he said would be more difficult for the county to obtain because of the industrial park development there.

William Weitekamp, county Department of Health Services project manager, said the Ramona Boulevard site is more centrally located and preferable because it is surrounded by commercial, rather than industrial, development. He had said in an earlier interview that the county preferred level land that is ready for construction.

The Irwindale site was selected by county officials after a search that covered 16 properties in seven San Gabriel Valley cities, Weitekamp said. Besides being construction-ready, the property met several other major criteria, including easy freeway access and proximity to bus lines, he said.

The San Gabriel Valley Medical Center is part of a plan by the county Department of Health Services for replacing the aging, dilapidated USC Medical Center in East Los Angeles. The hospital has 1,398 beds.

A consultant recommended last year that the county remodel the massive medical center into a smaller, more efficient facility of about 950 beds; build a new San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, and add about 100 beds each to the county’s Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance and Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar.

The San Gabriel Valley was designated for construction of a public hospital because a significant percentage of patients who visit County-USC come from the valley.

“This will provide much improved access for them,” said Harvey Kern, a special assistant to County-USC’s executive director. “Most of our patients have trouble getting to facilities in the first place. Most of them take buses, and some can’t even afford that. So it will be much more convenient to have the care provider closer to home.”