Attorney Funds for Hospital Case Rise

Ventura County leaders on Tuesday approved a $450,000 increase in the amount of attorney fees the county hospital anticipates it will spend defending itself in a legal battle with a neighboring private hospital.

The move by the Board of Supervisors came just days after Community Memorial Hospital announced it plans to put a countywide referendum on the ballot in March to try to keep Ventura County Medical Center from building a new $51-million outpatient wing, which is at the center of the legal dispute.

The public hospital anticipates that its total legal fees in the case could top $800,000.

“The losers are going to be the taxpayers,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said after Tuesday’s vote.

Community Memorial filed a lawsuit against the county hospital last year, claiming that it was unfairly competing for private patients. A judge ruled in the county’s favor, but Community Memorial has appealed the decision.

Last week, the private hospital launched a petition drive to collect 22,214 voter signatures needed to put a referendum on the outpatient wing on either the March or November ballot. The proposed referendum would block the sale of $51 million in bond-like certificates to finance the new outpatient wing.

Community Memorial officials claim that the new ambulatory-care center would be a financial gamble for taxpayers because Congress has threatened to cut funding for such projects.

“A public vote is needed for something that is as big and as risky as the county’s move,” said John Stodder, a Community Memorial spokesman.

County officials maintain that the project is financially sound. They also say that it would not put the county in competition with Community Memorial, as the county hospital treats mostly Medi-Cal, or government-insured patients.

Jim McBride, county counsel, said if Community Memorial obtains the needed signatures, the county may have to file a lawsuit to block the referendum.

“Like the lawsuit, I don’t think [the referendum] has any merit,” McBride said.