Trustees Vow to Use Health Fund Locally

Trustees of a coveted $50-million health care fund in Inglewood pledged Thursday to devote the money entirely to the care of children and young adults in nearby communities, a gesture apparently intended to quell fears that the money would be snatched from the area.

Under a hastily prepared proposal, the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles, one of the nation’s oldest endowment fund managers for communities, would manage the money. The foundation would invest and oversee the use of the fund.

Trustees had initially suggested that the task fall to the City of Hope hospital in Duarte, a move that outraged community members who feared that the fund would be raided by outsiders. The fund was generated by the sale of nonprofit Centinela Hospital Medical Center to a for-profit operation; by law, the proceeds must be dedicated to charity.

The state attorney general also frowned on the close relationship between the City of Hope and Centinela trustees.

The debate has been emblematic of the concerns raised by the flurry of nonprofit hospital conversions nationwide. Under the law, the proceeds must be used to further the mission of the former nonprofit, but there is much room for disagreement over what that means. The Centinela trustees’ proposal, outlined by board President William C. Miller and its attorney Thursday, amounted to something of a peace offering to community members--though some remained suspicious.

The trustees, who are members of the nonprofit Centinela’s former parent board, proposed to give half the money from the endowment to a children’s health insurance program and the other half to three nonprofit hospitals. Total yearly allocations would amount to 5% of the fund, or about $2.5 million.

Use of the money ultimately would be guided by an advisory board of five to seven members, with at least two members from the community at large, Miller said.

The insurance program is for children and adults under 24 in the Centinela area, a territory that has yet to be defined. The program would be administered by an Encino nonprofit called CaliforniaKids Healthcare Foundation, which would expand its traditional coverage, in this case, to include both hospital and outpatient or preventive care. Their package normally covers only outpatient care.

The hospitals would include at least two in the Centinela Valley, the Daniel Freeman and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial medical centers. The third has not been selected yet and may include an outside hospital--even City of Hope--as long as the money is spent on local children.

Community advocates were varied in their responses to the proposal, though no one was ready to give it a ringing endorsement.

“People are encouraged to hear more emphasis on a local focus than we had previously heard,” said Marty Thompson, an attorney representing Daniel Freeman, Robert F. Kennedy and other nonprofit hospitals. “But we’re still waiting for the details. . . . There is a lot left to be filled in.”

One of the items to be filled in is the third hospital/beneficiary. Some critics still insist that City of Hope--or any other distant facility--has no right to stake a claim.

“City of Hope is a wonderful hospital . . . but in terms of their dipping into this pot, I don’t see a role for them in this,” said Dr. Allan A. Orenstein, an oncologist who sits on the board of Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood.

Complicating matters are the vast health needs of the neighborhoods in and around Inglewood. One of five children is uninsured; many lack basic preventive care such as inoculations. Some critics do not trust assurances that money spent on any outside hospital’s services would go entirely to local causes.

And some community members, while supportive of children’s programs, say they don’t understand why the trustees decided to focus the fund exclusively on children, excluding poor adults. One suggested that trustees are riding a safe political wave--poor children’s health care these days is an enormously popular cause.

“I have no problem with them giving it to children, but I don’t think all of it should go to children,” said Lynette Lewis, an activist who supports increased screening for breast cancer, for example.

Also, Lewis said, she is “dumbfounded” that the plan has been formulated without any meaningful discussion with community members. In fact, the plan’s most vigorous vetting may come at the end of the month, when the trustees unveil the particulars at a public meeting. But Lewis is afraid that will be too late.

“What’s the purpose of having . . . a hearing if they’ve already got a plan? It’s a waste of the people’s time,” Lewis said. “Before they start announcing whatever, they should listen to the community.”

Miller said the board would be happy to consider community suggestions, as long as the state attorney general’s office approves. That office must review the plan before it is submitted to a judge for final approval.

The public meeting on the plan is set for Oct. 28 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Inglewood Public Library.