Joint Venture Suggested for Warring Hospitals

Community Memorial Hospital officials on Tuesday came forward with a new proposal for a partnership with Ventura County Medical Center, which recently began exploring a possible joint venture with some large private hospital chains.

Saying they wanted to put their past battles behind them, Community Memorial representatives proposed to the Board of Supervisors that they set up a joint-management organization that would oversee the operations of both hospitals. “This is a starting point for discussion, not a take-it-or-leave-it” proposition, said Barry Silvermann, an attorney for Community Memorial.

But the supervisors seemed unimpressed.

Board Chairman Frank Schillo told Silvermann that he offered to open discussions about a possible partnership during a private meeting with three of Community Memorial’s board members on Oct. 9 and was rejected.

“We were turned down at that point,” Schillo said. “So I don’t understand now why you’re having this peace offering and all this kind of stuff. . . . What’s changed?”

Silvermann said Community Memorial officials rejected Schillo’s offer because the county had already decided to go forward with a $29-million improvement project for the county hospital. The county later dropped its plans after being threatened with a voter referendum led by Community Memorial.

Despite the contentious relationship between the two neighboring hospitals, Community Memorial officials believe it is now time to put their differences aside and work together, Silvermann said.

“Look how long it took to get a resolution to the Vietnam War,” he said. “We don’t want it to take that long.”

But Supervisors Maggie Kildee and John Flynn suggested that a public apology from Community Memorial may be necessary before talks could take place. Their suggestion came after officials reported that the county has spent more than $2 million defending itself against lawsuits filed by Community Memorial.

“Perhaps, before we can move forward, there needs to be a recognition that you have hurt this county very badly,” Kildee said. “And perhaps there needs to be an apology, not a time just to say, let’s just forget it and move forward.”

But Silvermann said later that he doesn’t believe that Community Memorial has to apologize. He said that the nonprofit hospital has simply sought to protect itself from a county hospital that is seeking to compete for privately insured patients.

Still, Silvermann said he hopes the board will consider his hospital’s new proposal and what is in the best interest of the community.

“We want to work cooperatively with the county,” he said.

Under its proposal, Community Memorial would lease the county hospital and assume responsibility for its operations. Community Memorial would also contribute up to $3 million toward improvements that might be necessary for the hospital to maintain its state license.

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A joint-management organization would be set up to oversee and coordinate activities at both hospitals. The county also would appoint three representatives, including two supervisors, to sit on the Community Memorial board of trustees.

Silvermann declined to say whether the venture would give equal authority to both the county and Community Memorial, or whether Community Memorial would be the controlling partner. He said such details would have to be worked out.

Community Memorial’s offer comes at a time when the county has been talking with representatives of large private hospital chains about some type of joint venture.

Those talks include Columbia/HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, which owns Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks. Catholic Healthcare West, the largest nonprofit hospital chain in the state, which owns St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, has also expressed interest.

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Pierre Durand, director of the county’s Health Care Agency, told supervisors Tuesday that he is still exploring a number of options and would report back at a later date with his findings.

Meanwhile, Durand presented the board with a proposal to begin demolishing 10 abandoned clinic buildings on the medical center campus. The buildings are about 50 years old and have not been in use, in most cases, for two or three years.

Durand said the buildings, which contain asbestos, pose a health and safety risk and should be torn down in the next six to nine months.