Study: Half of hospitals will fail quake standard
Half of the California hospital facilities considered vulnerable to collapsing in a strong earthquake won’t be fixed in time for a 2013 deadline for seismic safety repairs, a new study says.
The report also projects that earthquake safety improvements stemming from a 1994 state law would cost as much as $110 billion -- a financial burden that, it says, could lead to widespread hospital closings.
California’s hospitals “are not moving ahead to comply with the law,” but that’s understandable because doing so would cost a lot of money, said Charles Meade, lead author of the report, which was commissioned by the nonprofit California HealthCare Foundation and conducted by Rand Corp.
The study, to be released today, cites three options for policymakers: keep the existing earthquake-safety requirements despite the likely hospital closures, loosen the requirements despite the potential safety hazards, or use state funds to pay for needed seismic improvements. “There’s a very difficult set of issues that involve trade-offs,” Meade said.
Under state requirements, hospitals must be equipped by 2013 to remain standing during a strong earthquake. By 2030, requirements call for hospitals in California to be able to remain operational after such a temblor.
The main legislation behind these standards, known as SB 1953, was passed in 1994 after damage from the Northridge quake led to the closure of three hospitals and suspension of services at 23 others.
Rand researchers say 305 acute-care hospitals in the state have buildings that are vulnerable to collapse in a strong earthquake, and about half will fail to meet the 2013 safety deadline.
The projected $110 billion in seismic costs, for work that would need to be completed by 2030, doesn’t include borrowing costs, which Rand said could double the expense. It is a major jump from Rand’s previous estimate of $41 billion, made in 2002.
Jan Emerson, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Assn., a trade group representing more than 400 of the state’s hospitals, said the Rand report “really confirms what we have been saying.”
If the deadlines and standards remain intact, Emerson added, “the state will be required under existing law to come in and shut hospital buildings down. And that will pose a significant risk” to patient care.
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