Smoke and Mirrors

Community Memorial Hospital’s plot to hijack Ventura County’s tobacco settlement money threatens to be an ugly replay of its 1996 battle against the Ventura County Medical Center. That dispute wasted millions on legal fees and campaigning that should have been spent on health care.

The private hospital should drop its self-serving scheme to spirit this public windfall into its own coffers. If it doesn’t, county officials will have no choice but to fight this attempted piracy in court.

What a waste of time and money in a county where far too many people lack adequate health care from either the public or private sector.

Community Memorial revealed its strategy of intimidation last week when its out-of-town lawyers sent a letter to county officials warning that they may face legal sanctions if they campaign against the hospital’s ballot initiative, which would give the money to private health care providers. The letter also accused the Board of Supervisors of violating the state’s open meeting law by holding a closed session on the matter. Although litigation is one of the few things that elected officials may properly discuss behind closed doors, a counter-initiative or other defense steps must be discussed in public.

The stakes are high. At issue is $225 million the county stands to receive over the next 25 years as repayment for what it has spent over the years taking care of people whose illnesses were caused by smoking.

Under the terms of the settlement, the county is not legally obligated to spend this money directly on health care. We believe it should do so anyway, following a one-time use of this year’s allotment to resolve the county’s budget crisis. Future payments should be used to care for the poor and the mentally ill and, in particular, to care for sick smokers and to warn kids about the hazards of smoking.

In any case, handing the money over to a private institution makes no sense. Community Memorial treats about 1% of the county’s indigent patients while the county-owned Ventura County Medical Center treats 83%, according to a 1997 study.

Community Memorial made a lot of unnecessary enemies with its heavy-handed 1996 campaign to block a proposed outpatient wing at VCMC, which CMH viewed as unfair government competition for patients. Voters defeated the expansion plan after CMH spent $1.6 million persuading them--the costliest local campaign in county history.

The people of Ventura County have nothing to gain by putting this $225 million into private hands--especially hands that cost them so much in the past.