New Law Clears Way for Hospital Change

An obscure measure approved by the state Legislature last week could hasten a major management change at South Bay Hospital, a publicly owned hospital in Redondo Beach.

Inglewood-based Daniel Freeman Hospitals is negotiating to take over operations at the financially ailing facility, and a decision is expected in a few months. The hospital, owned by the Beach Cities Health District, is currently leased to a hospital chain.

Now, because of legislation that the health district requested, it will be allowed to sublease the hospital without voters’ approval.

If Daniel Freeman does assume management of the hospital, it would be operated under Catholic directives that forbid abortions and sterilization techniques such as tubal ligations, as well as certain fertility procedures.

At South Bay Hospital, 15 tubal ligations and four elective abortions were performed in the year ending in July, officials said.

District officials say they asked for the change so they could quickly find a new operator and assure that the hospital stays open.

“If you’re trying to find another partner for this operation and you have to go to a public vote, anyone’s going to walk away,” said board member Ken Johnson.

But some critics question whether the public received adequate notice; the district board never voted in public to ask the Legislature for the change.

The hospital district was formed in 1955 to build and operate a community hospital. It encompasses Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, where taxpayers pay about $900,000 annually to the district.

In 1984, the district leased South Bay Hospital to American Medical International, a commercial chain. Under the lease, which will not expire until 2014, AMI pays the district $3 million a year in rent. The district uses interest from its investments to help finance health-related programs.

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But South Bay Hospital has struggled in recent years amid financial losses and stiff competition for patients.

When the hospital lost its largest managed-care contract early this year, some wondered if the facility would be forced to close.

But Daniel P. McLean, president and chief executive officer of Daniel Freeman Hospitals, said Monday that it has been negotiating with AMI for several months to take over operations, possibly through a sublease. Nonprofit Daniel Freeman runs Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood and Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey.

Deborah Blair Porter, a coordinator of the Palos Verdes/South Bay chapter of the National Organization for Women, said she is disappointed that a ban on abortions may go into effect at a publicly owned hospital.

“It’s really rather a sad state of affairs, that without anyone knowing about it, women’s access to medical care is precluded,” she said.

Redondo Beach Councilman Bob Pinzler also expressed concern about the Catholic guidelines. He said the district needs to discuss its activities more openly.

“It is the responsibility of the agency to get the word out, rather than to wait for people to come and ask,” he said.

District officials say they were not trying to circumvent the electorate. Robert Lundy, attorney for the district, said that the legislation was intended to clear up some legal ambiguity and that it is not even clear that the law’s old language would have required an election.

The change became part of a bill sponsored by the Assn. of California Hospital Districts and introduced by Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno). The Beach Cities Health District asked for the change, said Barbara Glaser, the hospital association’s legislative advocate.

South Bay Hospital is the only hospital in the state affected by the modification, she said.

The next scheduled election is Nov. 8, when six candidates are vying for two of five district board seats: David E. Andrews, incumbent Patricia A. Dreizler, M.A. (Kyle) Culley, incumbent Johnson, J. Daniel Keeling and Judy Swanson. The election filing deadline was Aug. 12, and district officials say that holding a special election would be costly.

A district staff member reviewed records of the board’s meetings this week and found only one brief reference to the law, in a July 7 attorney’s report.

However, district officials met with Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) in March and with state Sen. Ralph C. Dills (D-El Segundo) last month to discuss the change. Both legislators supported the legislation.