Supervisor Seeks to Mend Relations With Hospital

Hoping to improve relations with Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn on Tuesday proposed holding a countywide forum to discuss the future of health care services in the area.

Flynn said he wants to see public and private health care providers and insurers work together to meet the increasing financial challenges they face as a result of managed care and other changes in the industry. County employers also would be invited to participate.

But Flynn also made it clear that he hoped the forum could be used to repair relations with Community Memorial, which spent more than $1.3 million in a successful but bitter campaign last March to keep the county hospital from building a new wing.

“I would hope that we could seek peace with Community Memorial Hospital,” Flynn said.

The supervisor, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Community Memorial, made a personal pledge to watch his mouth from now on. He said he was following the advice of his “religious leaders” not to be vindictive.

“I know every time the issue comes up, my immediate instinct is to say something bad, to seek revenge,” he said. “I need to stop that. I don’t think it does any good.”

Supervisor Judy Mikels agreed with Flynn’s “new-found faith.”

“Lashing back and being vindictive doesn’t work,” she said. “It feels good, but it doesn’t work.”

Doug Dowie, a Community Memorial consultant, said the hospital is pleased that the county wants to hold a forum to discuss the future of health care services in the area, including what county government’s role should be.

But Dowie also said that Community Memorial Hospital, located two blocks from the Ventura County Medical Center, still has disagreements with the county over services and capital projects at the two facilities. He said those issues must be resolved separately from any countywide discussion of health care services.

“The dispute, as we all know, is between the county and Community Memorial” and no one else, Dowie said.

Although he supported Flynn’s proposal for a countywide health care forum, Supervisor Frank Schillo agreed with Dowie that the county and Community Memorial must iron out their own problems.

“We will be looking to make progress there, too,” said Schillo, who noted that he and Mikels hope to meet with Community Memorial representatives within the next month.

Meanwhile, Flynn asked county staff to prepare a report outlining an agenda for a countywide health care forum. Once the report is completed, he said, the county could arrange to invite all of the key players in the region to participate.