Laguna Beach works on a micro solution to a major emergency
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After months of anxiety, Laguna Beach may have bought its emergency room another chance at survival, or at least it seems to be pointed in that direction.
The alarm bells first rang last winter, when the CEO of Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach told the city it would eventually be forced to drop its emergency room services and focus on an out-patient model because it could not afford to comply with state-required seismic regulations by a 2030 deadline. The retrofit would cost $300 million, the executive, Seth Teigan, told the City Council during a Jan. 27 study session. That figure did not include an estimated cost of $50 million for additional electrical and plumbing infrastructure improvements.
This was no small problem for the city, a tourist mecca that has relied on its hospital in South Laguna for nearly seven decades, since 1959. A 16-member task force was formed to save the town’s only ER. According to reporter Andrew Turner’s most recent article on the matter, the local emergency department receives about 17,000 visits per year, with approximately 3,400 of those patients being admitted.
Things may now be looking up, in terms of the future of emergency care in Laguna Beach: Providence Mission Hospital and city officials released a joint statement last week announcing they will embark on a study to see if it would be feasible to bring a “micro-hospital” that would include acute care services at the same site.
“This community is not the least bit interested in having an outcome that does not provide for emergency department services in this community,” Ron Geisman, a member of the task force, said at a meeting held last month. “It’s very, very clear that that is our attitude as a community, so we’re going to work from that perspective.”
Help will be sought from the state Legislature via a lobbyist to make feasible a stand-alone ER, which is currently outlawed, Turner reports.
“Even though it’s not allowed, we really think with our government affairs team, and with the support of the city and community, that there is a real opportunity for us to pursue this, because Laguna Beach is not alone,” Teigen said during the Aug. 20 meeting “There are hospitals across the state of California that are in the exact same situation, whether it be for activity, their location, they’re rural by nature or the seismic deadline that they’re faced with ... I think it’s a great opportunity for us to work together and do something really special, just like the people that came before us in 1959.”
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4 Things to do in OC
⛵Take in the Ocean Institute’s 42nd Annual Maritime Festival this Friday through Sunday in Dana Point Harbor. The event includes a beer garden, vendors, Private Adventure Show, Sailor Camp and other activities.
🫖 Gather some friends and enjoy the signature St. Regis Cultivated Afternoon Tea that’s now being offered at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast.
👨🏼🍳 Reserve your seat for “Simple Too: A Evening with Yotam Ottolenghi” hosted by Evan Kleiman, which will put the focus on celebrity chef Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Oct. 14. For tickets, go to thebarclay.org
🧟♂️Get into the spirit of the upcoming spooky season by visiting Knott’s Scary Farm, opening Sept. 17 and running through Oct. 31.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! Please feel free to reach out with comments or questions at carol.cormaci@latimes.com