Desert Hospital Still Struggling, County Reports

High Desert Hospital has been unable to meet its financial goals halfway through a six-month effort designed to prevent the county-run facility from being downgraded to an outpatient clinic, according to a new report.

Facing a countywide budget crunch, the county Board of Supervisors voted in August to eliminate the hospital’s inpatient services -- treatment for serious problems that require a stay of more than 24 hours.

Since then, the 75-bed Lancaster hospital has tried to make up for the $10 million in yearly cuts by contracting out beds to private medical groups, other hospitals and the state Department of Corrections, which runs the nearby state prison in Lancaster.

The report was issued Dec. 5 by Thomas Garthwaite, director of the county Department of Health Services. It found that the facility is struggling to attract needed revenue from private medical groups and has been unable to reach an agreement with the Corrections Department.

Hospital officials could not be reached Tuesday for comment. But Norm Hickling, a field deputy for county Supervisor Michael Antonovich, said the report held out hope that the hospital could reach its goals by the time the experiment ends in February.

“It’s going slower than we hoped, but this actually shows good signs of progress,” said Hickling, a former health-care executive and a member of the advisory board that crafted the hospital’s plan.

“I think in a lot of ways it’s a brand new way of working. It’s the private sector understanding the needs of the county and the county understanding the needs of the private sector,” he said.

Hospital officials hoped contracts with private medical groups would bring in $4 million yearly, or $333,000 per month over the course of the program. But the hospital brought in only a little more than $100,000 in September and again in October, the report said. Statistics for November were not available when the report was written, Hickling said.

The hospital also seeks to earn $5.6 million a year by treating inmates. A separate wing would treat as many as 50 inmates at a time from the high-security prison, Hickling said.

But the report said the offer from the Corrections Department was “less than the amount required to offset the cost of operating the beds.” Corrections officials also want all but the most serious medical problems to be treated within prison walls.

“It’s a question of cost, and a question of safety and security,” corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich said.

Antelope Valley officials who have been trying to save the hospital are concerned about the effect of the cutbacks on an estimated 25% of Antelope Valley residents lacking health insurance. High Desert offered such patients free or nearly free hospital care.

Officials are also concerned about dwindling health-care choices in the fast-growing but geographically isolated suburbs. The area’s population grew by about 27%, to 318,000, in the last decade when two of the area’s five hospitals closed.