Bid to Halt Hospital Project May Be Losing : Supervisors: At least three of the five board members support the planned Ventura County Medical Center addition despite the campaign by opponents.

An aggressive campaign to stop Ventura County from building a new hospital wing has apparently done little to influence the officials who hold sway over the project: the Board of Supervisors.

As county health officials prepare to defend their project at a public meeting Tuesday, at least three of the five supervisors say they support the $38-million outpatient wing and garage planned for Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura.

This support comes in spite of dire warnings that the addition could cripple neighboring Community Memorial Hospital and drain county coffers.

“If you look at the 30-year plan, the finances, it’s the right thing to do,” Supervisor Maria E. VanderKolk said. “It’s an exciting and wonderful project, and I think once the controversy dies down, people will see that.”

But the new wing must also pass muster with the county’s Public Facilities Corp., an agency that issues the bonds to pay for construction. Concerned about project costs and interested in possible collaboration with other hospitals, panel members asked supervisors to set up Tuesday’s meeting. The supervisors will get updated information from county hospital administrators and listen to public testimony. No vote is scheduled.

At least one member, Norman Blacher, is pushing for a collaboration between the county hospital and Community Memorial to avoid duplicating services. He could well be disappointed.

Despite public pronouncements by Community Memorial Administrator Michael Bakst, administrators of both hospitals have yet to discuss any joint efforts. A meeting earlier this month at the Hospital Council of Southern California ended in recriminations, rather than cooperation, participants said.

“Cooperation must be based on sincerity and trust, and one has to earn that,” said Phillipp K. Wessels, director of the county’s Health Care Agency. “I question (Bakst’s) sincerity since he’s never spoken one word to me.”

Bakst said he has yet to hear anything from the county hospital, either. Community Memorial needs to know the county’s requirements before it can determine if it can fill them, said Donald Benton, a member of the hospital’s board of trustees.

“We do have existing space,” Benton said. “We do have capacity in technology. Not all of our high-tech equipment is in constant use.”

The county said its requirements can be met with its proposed new building: a 105,000-square-foot wing that would consolidate clinics and laboratories now scattered among rented buildings and deteriorating structures near the medical center.

To pay for the $30-million wing and adjacent $8-million parking garage, the county expects to draw on state funds reserved for hospitals serving low-income residents.

Under the program, the state would reimburse 70% of the project’s costs, which with interest could total $56 million over 15 years. The county’s share would be $17 million.

Jere Robings, a supervisorial candidate who is basing part of his campaign on criticizing the county hospital, argues that the project relies on state funding that could collapse in recessionary times. He promised to release information on the project today.

County officials say that once the state approves the funding, state officials are obligated to pay their share. County estimates show that the new wing could pay for itself in 24 years by saving the costs of leasing existing buildings and by bringing in revenue with increased outpatient visits.

“I think everybody should be cheering that we’re saving county general fund money and not spending it,” Supervisor Maggie Kildee said.

But administrators at Community Memorial are not cheering. They say the new outpatient wing is designed to lure privately insured patients from other hospitals.

Wessels denies that emphatically. “We have no intention, no desire, no financial motivation to go after privately insured patients,” he said.

In fact, if the county doesn’t keep up its percentage of low-income patients, it stands to lose part or all of its state reimbursement on the new wing, officials say. The reimbursement figure, 70%, is based on the proportion of Medi-Cal patients served.

“All we’re worried about is how we are going to preserve our institution,” Wessels said.

Benton is skeptical.

“It’s a little difficult to understand how he can say that when they now have county employees who can get a discount on their insurance if they use the county hospital and clinics,” Benton said. “There’s no way you can get around that.”

Community Memorial’s supporters have used newspaper advertising and letter-writing campaigns to push their views. Still, supervisors say they have received only a handful of letters on the issue.

All three supervisors reached for comment Friday--Kildee, VanderKolk and Susan K. Lacey--expressed unequivocal support for the plan.

“It makes one wonder as to whether the hearing is just a waste of time,” Benton said. “They’ve already spent $1.8 million on architectural and design work. . . . It’s distressing that they’re spending this much of the taxpayers’ money.”