Hospital Campaign Called County’s Most Costly

Community Memorial Hospital’s campaign to block the county hospital from building a new $56-million outpatient center has become what election officials believe is the most expensive local campaign in Ventura County history.

The nonprofit, private hospital has spent more than $1.3 million on its sponsorship of Measure X, a countywide referendum on the March 26 ballot that seeks to derail the county hospital project.

“I’m sure it’s a record,” said Bruce Bradley, county assistant registrar of voters. “I can’t think of anything else coming close.”

According to reports received by the county Monday, Community Memorial has spent $835,000 since Jan. 1, with most of that going toward slick campaign brochures, radio and newspaper ads and legal fees related to Measure X. This is on top of the $528,000 the hospital spent last year on the campaign.

In comparison, the campaign organization of county hospital supporters has raised $66,553 and spent nearly all of it. Most of the money came from doctors affiliated with the public hospital.

Community Memorial supporters defended spending 20 times more than their organized opposition, saying that the hospital is fighting for its economic survival. They said that the county project will be used to unfairly compete for privately insured patients, an accusation county officials deny.

“It’s a shame that we had to spend that money to keep our doors open,” said Laura Dahlgren, spokeswoman for the Community Memorial-sponsored group Taxpayers for Quality Health Care.

“But we’re trying to keep the government from competing with the private sector,” said Dahlgren, who is also a registered nurse at Community Memorial. “It’s an unfair playing field.”

Pierre Durand, director of the county’s Health Care Agency, said county officials are not trying to compete for patients, but rather want the new, five-story building to consolidate several clinics to save money on rent and other costs.

“I’m disappointed over the amount of money going to misinform the public,” he said. “I hope taxpayers will have the opportunity to receive all of the information [before the election].”

Supporters of the county hospital project said they were not surprised at the lopsided spending in the campaign.

“We knew we wouldn’t outspend them, but we thought we would outsmart them,” said Madge Schaefer, a spokeswoman for SMART. “It’s obscene that they would spend this amount of money to confuse the voters. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.”

Dahlgren said that some of the $1.3 million went to legal fees. She said Community Memorial was forced to spend thousands dollars defending the referendum against a legal challenge from the county.

“If the county had not tried to sue us, the costs would have certainly been less,” Dahlgren said. She said she did not know how much was spent on the legal battle.

County Counsel James McBride said his office spent less than $10,000 on the case, using no outside attorneys.

The rival hospitals, located two blocks apart in Ventura, have been feuding for years as both struggle to stay afloat in an uncertain health care economy.

Tensions finally peaked last year when the County Board of Supervisors approved the sale of $51 million in bond-like certificates to cover most of the costs for the new outpatient center. The five-story building would replace several dilapidated clinics, the hospital kitchen and laboratory and other facilities.

At least $27 million of the project’s cost would be repaid with state and federal grant money, county officials maintain. The remainder would be covered by county hospital revenues.

But in its brochures and ads against Measure X, Taxpayers for Quality Health Care warns voters that the county is gambling with taxpayers’ money. The group warns that because of political changes in Sacramento and Washington, the county may end up picking up the entire bill for the project.

County officials acknowledge that the county could lose its funding if it cannot go forward with the sale of the bond-like certificates. But they say the money has already been pledged to the county and if voters support Measure X, they are confident the public hospital will receive its money.