Earthquake Inspections

I believe your article (Jan. 23) regarding the state’s inspection of health care facilities following the Northridge earthquake left readers with erroneous impressions. The state inspected all hospitals and nursing homes in the area immediately after the earthquake, closing those facilities which were unsafe and expediting approval of repairs needed for ongoing operations. At the Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, unsafe buildings were closed immediately while other buildings, determined to be safe, were allowed to continue patient care services while undergoing repairs.

Within 72 hours, state teams of expert building inspectors, engineers and safety officers conducted 88 inspections of health facilities in the quake-stricken area, closing 12 unsafe structures and limiting access to 11 others. Those teams went on to inspect a total of 472 hospital buildings, nursing homes and related health care facilities in the greater Los Angeles area.

At Holy Cross hospital, within hours of the earthquake, a state inspection team was on site conducting an assessment of the damage to the various buildings on the campus. The structures housing administrative services and medical offices were closed, while the main hospital building was found to be safe for continued patient care. Further inspection and analysis by both state and private structural engineers found the building to be structurally sound and safe for patient care while undergoing repairs. As well, as part of the state’s commitment to restore services to the Los Angeles area quickly, state staff worked with the hospital to approve and monitor needed repairs. These staff have been on site at Holy Cross on a weekly basis to review repairs.

In the months following the temblor, as the engineering community analyzed the damage throughout the earthquake area, state staff continued to review and evaluate the safety of hospital buildings. In the May, 1994, letter to the engineering firm (Taylor and Gaines) retained by Holy Cross, a state structural engineer requested additional information needed to review the status of steel-framed buildings at Holy Cross. After careful consideration of that additional information, those buildings were determined to be structurally safe.

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development works closely with the Seismic Safety Commission to assure that California hospitals and other health facilities are built to standards that will protect patients in an earthquake and enable the facilities to continue to provide needed health services to the community in a disaster. Contrary to the impression left by your article, at no time--either in the days immediately after the earthquake or during the ongoing review of hospitals in the following months--did the Seismic Safety Commission find that Holy Cross Hospital was unsafe to provide care to the community.

DAVID WERDEGAR MD, MPH

Director, Office of Statewide Health

Planning and Development, Sacramento