Repairs for Hospital Gain Backing

Breaking their silence on Ventura’s hospital war for the first time, the operators of St. John’s Regional Medical Center said Wednesday they support making “reasonable repairs” on the county’s hospital to maintain the health care safety net for the county’s poor and uninsured residents.

The announcement was prompted by recent revelations that county hospital officials have been talking with the two largest for-profit hospital chains in the country about a possible joint venture, said Dan Herlinger, president and chief executive officer of the St. John’s hospitals.

“We’re not interested in seeing the county go with a for-profit hospital chain,” Herlinger said. “We believe the community’s interest is best served by a not-for-profit model.”

The fact that county officials have been talking with Tenet Health Care Corp. and Columbia/HCA--which already owns one hospital in the county, Columbia Los Robles in Thousand Oaks--has prompted St. John’s to become “more proactive,” Herlinger said.

Herlinger did not elaborate on what “reasonable repairs” would entail. The county has already launched two unsuccessful proposals for new construction at the aging Loma Vista Street hospital. The first--a $56-million outpatient center, new kitchen and laboratory--was summarily shot down by voters in the spring, after neighboring Community Memorial Hospital put the project on the ballot and waged a $1.6-million campaign to defeat it.

The second--a scaled-back $28-million version that would have included a kitchen, laboratory and parking garage--was approved by the Board of Supervisors in October. But after Community Memorial mounted a signature-gathering campaign for a referendum to stop it, the supervisors rescinded their approval.

Stymied by Community Memorial at every turn--the nonprofit hospital considers the improvements part of a plan to take away paying patients--county officials began talking with private companies about a partnership.

Stepping into the feud between the two hospitals is not his goal, Herlinger said. But he said the passionate dispute is something that affects all the county’s hospitals.

“We’re not interested in taking sides on the dispute,” he said. “But as a health care provider we are concerned about medical care for all county residents. We do support reasonable repairs to the county facility, necessary to ensure safe and reliable care in order for the hospital to continue to serve as the safety net.”

Herlinger’s comments came on a day that saw change--and growth--for his own hospital. On Wednesday, Catholic Healthcare West, which owns St. John’s Regional Medical Center’s facilities in Oxnard and Pleasant Valley, announced plans to acquire a 110-bed Catholic hospital in Santa Barbara.

The merger would expand Catholic Healthcare West’s rapidly growing empire to 36 hospitals, all but two in California. The company is the largest not-for-profit health-care provider in the state.

Catholic Healthcare West is also in the process of acquiring a hospital in Santa Maria to create a small regional group extending from Ventura County up the Central Coast.

Officials said the merger with St. Francis Medical Center, near downtown Santa Barbara, will have little direct impact on operations in the network’s two Ventura County hospitals. The medical staffs will remain independent.

But the move signals that Catholic Healthcare West is in an acquisition mode, which could mean more change for the county. Not only has the county hospital been discussing mergers with private companies, but Community Memorial has also been approached by some large hospital companies.

Herlinger declined to comment on what the chances might be of Catholic Healthcare West purchasing either one of Ventura’s duo of warring hospitals. He said he has talked with Community Memorial about “some kind of relationship between the hospitals” but did not elaborate.

A spokeswoman at Catholic Healthcare West’s San Francisco headquarters said the network is in a growth pattern and would consider acquiring either of the two hospitals.

“We certainly would have an interest,” said Catholic Healthcare West communications director Debbie Cantu.

But she said neither the county hospital nor Community Memorial have submitted proposals to Catholic Healthcare West, the first step in the negotiating process.

“To my knowledge, we have not received an RFP from either of those hospitals,” Cantu said. “But we would be interested in talking to everybody, particularly those hospitals that have an interest in remaining not for profit.”