County Weighs Lawsuit in Fight Over Hospital : Medicine: Supervisors object to Community Memorial’s referendum bid against a new outpatient wing at the Ventura County Medical Center.

Saying that “it’s time to take off the gloves and come out fighting,” Ventura County supervisors announced Wednesday that the county will take a private hospital to court for its attempts to block construction of a new outpatient wing at the county medical center.

The supervisors said Community Memorial Hospital was providing voters with misleading and inaccurate information in its effort to gather nearly 23,000 signatures for a countywide referendum on the $51-million construction project.

The private Ventura hospital is looking to block the sale of special certificates that will be used to finance the new wing. It has charged that the new facility will drive the county deeper into debt and ultimately be used to lure private patients from other hospitals.

But in a rare display of unity, the five county supervisors gathered for a press conference at the Ventura County Government Center to express their support for the project, saying that it is financially sound.

The supervisors stressed that the outpatient wing will not be an expansion of the county hospital. Rather, they said, the new facility will be used to consolidate six outpatient clinics located in leased and, in some cases, dilapidated buildings. They said the new wing would actually save the county money in the long run.

“We have not gone out looking for a fight,” Supervisor Maggie Kildee said. “But we think maybe it’s time to come out and do battle to defend the taxpayers of this county.”

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who has often clashed with Kildee over the years, hugged his colleague at one point to demonstrate the board’s agreement on the hospital project. He said the new wing is essential for the county to meet its legal and “moral responsibility” to provide care for the county’s indigent and uninsured population.

“We are advocates of the poor,” Flynn said. “That is our job.”

Michael Bakst, executive director of Community Memorial, issued a written statement later in the day denouncing county leaders for trying to deprive voters of a chance to decide whether the new outpatient facility should be built.

“Our message to the hundreds of volunteers who are helping our campaign gather signatures is, ‘Keep going. The supervisors cannot stop us,’ ” Bakst said.

In addition to volunteers, the hospital has hired dozens of professional petition-gatherers to help it meet a Nov. 9 deadline to qualify its referendum for the March ballot.

Meanwhile, County Counsel James McBride said the county will file a lawsuit against Community Memorial within three weeks, challenging both the validity of the referendum and the method by which signatures are being gathered.

“We know for a fact that misrepresentations are being made,” he said. “That’s wrong. Somebody has to have control over the information.”