Countywide : Action Postponed on Hospital Referendum

Ventura County supervisors Tuesday delayed placing a referendum on the March ballot that would block construction of a $51-million outpatient wing at the Ventura County Medical Center.

The supervisors, who oppose the countywide referendum, postponed the matter until next week, saying they wanted to wait for the outcome of a hearing scheduled Thursday in Santa Barbara Superior Court.

The county has filed suit to disqualify the referendum sponsored by Community Memorial Hospital, which believes that the outpatient wing at the Ventura County Medical Center would drive the county deeper into debt and would be used to lure private patients from other hospitals.

Supervisor John Flynn said that the hospital project will not cost taxpayers money, as Community Memorial alleges. He said the debt would be repaid with federal grant money and with hospital revenues.

Community Memorial officials have argued that federal funding could be withdrawn in future years.

But Flynn and hospital officials said the money is committed, and there is only a remote chance it would be lost.

County officials also stressed Tuesday that the project is not an expansion but a consolidation of facilities now housed in rented buildings, many of which are in disrepair. Officials said the consolidation alone will save the county $1 million a year on rent.