Hospital Wants Proof Project Is Necessary

Community Memorial Hospital officials on Thursday requested proof from the county that the Ventura County Medical Center would lose its state license if it does not replace its kitchen and medical laboratory.

The nonprofit private hospital has been engaged in a bitter legal and political fight with the county over its improvement plans for the neighboring medical center, which Community Memorial officials contend is attempting to lure its patients away.

County officials have maintained that they have no choice but to replace the 75-year-old public hospital’s kitchen and medical laboratory because they are structurally unsound and severely lacking in work space. They said the hospital stands to lose its state accreditation if no action is taken.

In a March 13, 1996, inspector’s report obtained by The Times, the College of American Pathologists--the hospital accrediting agency--describes space in the current medical laboratory as “cramped” and “inadequate.”

“It is imperative that the clinical laboratory and pathology department acquire space very soon,” the inspector wrote in his report. “Recommend at least five times more space than now available. This is an immediate need.”

Assistant County Counsel Michael Powers said there are other related accreditation documents that the county is reviewing for possible release. But he stressed that most of the investigative reports in question are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act.

“We’re certainly not trying to hide anything,” he said. “But a lot of these documents are considered confidential. I doubt that Community Memorial would be interested in turning theirs over.”

Community Memorial representatives said that nothing in the Public Records Act prohibits the county from making public all of the requested documentation. They said the law is discretionary on this matter, not mandatory.

“Given the county’s position that VCMC’s accreditation is threatened, common sense, not to mention good public policy, requires that these documents be made available to the public,” Community Memorial attorney James Parrinello stated in a letter to Powers on Thursday.