The rally to save Community Hospital got more urgent Tuesday, when the Assembly Health Committee put Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell’s AB 2591 on hold until the City of Long Beach can move forward with a plan that details how seismic compliance will be achieved at Community Hospital, according to O’Donnell in an interview with the Signal Tribune this week.
During the Assembly Health Committee’s hearing on Tuesday at Capitol Hill in Sacramento, Jim Wood, chairman of the committee and assemblymember for California’s 2nd district, withheld his vote on Assembly Bill 2591, which seeks a seismic-deadline extension for Community Hospital.
He said other hospitals across the state with similar seismic issues have already engaged in extensive planning to address those problems.
“I am sympathetic to the fact that Long Beach Community Hospital will be closing, but the Assembly Health Committee has a long-standing record of only granting seismic extensions to hospitals that have seismic-compliance plans in place,” Wood said in an emailed statement to the Signal Tribune on Wednesday. “Hospitals have been planning for the upcoming 2020 seismic deadline for years, but this hospital has no such plan. Given that it sits on an active fault line, providing an extension would be irresponsible and a risk to public safety and, because of that, we will hold AB 2591 in this committee, which will provide the City of Long Beach some time to submit a compliance plan.”
The bill, introduced in February, needed the approval of the committee before it could be moved forward for voting on an Assembly level. O’Donnell, California’s 70th-district assemblymember, expressed his frustrations in an interview Wednesday, when he said Community Hospital has fallen behind.
“The problem is we’re late,” he said. “There are 200 other hospital buildings across the state of California that are facing the same deadline. However, those other hospitals started to plan a long time ago. So, they’re facing that deadline for 2020 just like we are. They are operating now, but they’ve also been planning. They’ve been operating and planning, whereas we’ve just been operating. What we need Long Beach to do is to come up with a plan on what they’re going to do to address the seismic situation before we can get them to have an extension, as well.”
O’Donnell said the City has retained three consultants, who are now in the process to develop a compliance plan. However, in addition to a having a compliance issue, there is also the looming need for an operator.
“We’re in a tough spot,” he said. “I acknowledge we’re in a tough spot, but I’m not giving up. My goal is to get everybody moving as rapidly as possible to help us keep this necessary facility open.”
O’Donnell said he has been in constant contact with City officials to address the seismic issue. Currently, the Community Hospital Task Force is slated to convene on April 30 at 5pm at the Bixby Park Community Center, 130 Cherry Ave. During the meeting, the task force will provide updates on the facility and O’Donnell’s assembly bill.
Although O’Donnell is unsure about his availability to attend the meeting, he said a representative from his office will be present.
O’Donnell said he wasn’t surprised about the health committee’s decision, but he was astonished to find out that other hospitals across the state have been in the planning stages for years to address their seismic compliance.
He added that it is now on the City to come up with a plan so there is something to put on the table in Sacramento for the health committee.
“We’re way behind the curve here,” he said. “We need to get moving. […] Enough time for talking, we only have time for planning.”
