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Monday, Mar 18, 2024

Hospitals May Get Seismic Upgrade Reprieve to 2030

In 2001, the Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development found that nearly 40 percent of California hospital structures were at high risk of collapse in an earthquake. Hospitals in the high risk category were given a 2013 deadline to meet the state’s stringent seismic standards or face closure. While January 2013 is five years away, some area hospitals are in danger of failing to make the required changes by that date. Thanks to the California Building Standards Commission’s decision to approve new regulations for determining how at risk the state’s hospital buildings are of collapse in an earthquake, such hospitals may no longer be deemed high-risk and, if so, given until 2030 to meet state seismic standards. CBSC reportedly arrived at its decision in part because the technology used to assess California’s hospital buildings in the late 1990s is now considered to be outdated. The California Hospital Association applauded the move. “The decision to allow the use of HAZUS, a new federally developed modeling technology, will help preserve access to care for millions of Californians,” stated CHA President C. Duane Dauner. “HAZUS represents the latest technological advancement in determining earthquake risk. It factors in not only the age of the building and the type of construction but also soil composition, distance from an earthquake fault, ground motion and other considerations.” With the use of HAZUS, more than half of hospital buildings will likely be reclassified as low risk, Duaner continued. Many hospitals, however, have already made major changes to meet the state’s mandates. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, for example, completed a $27.7 million retrofit project in 2002, according to spokeswoman Andie Bogdan. “At the time of the [Northridge] earthquake, we had damage to the building,” she said. “We repaired the damage and did the retrofitting at the same time rather than repair the damage and go back at a later date to do the retrofitting.” So, after making millions of dollars in changes that could have waited, according to the new HAZUS technology, does Henry Mayo President and CEO Roger Seaver feel that the hospital has been done a disservice? No, he said. “The availability of new technology to assess seismic risk should be viewed as positive by all. While we may want to look back and say ‘what if,’ I think it is more important that we look forward,” he stated. “Since we were one of the first hospitals in the state that addressed seismic upgrades, we have had the luxury of looking more aggressively at the growing need for more health care delivery in our market. This is possible because we are not waiting, watching and hoping for the regulatory assistance that might affect our commitment today.” Jan Emerson, CHA vice president of external affairs, categorically denies that the hospitals that have already completed making seismic upgrades were wronged. “Ultimately all hospitals are still going to have to meet the new earthquake standards,” she said. “This is not going to let anyone off the hook. It means they’re lower risk. They’ll still have to make those changes by 2030.” In Emerson’s opinion, hospitals that have already made seismic upgrades will simply be ahead of the game. “It doesn’t do them a disservice,” she said. “A lot of hospitals,their buildings are very old anyway. They’re not especially designed for a 21st century hospital.” Only hospital buildings found to be low-risk with HAZUS technology will receive extensions until 2030 to complete making upgrades. Buildings that remain in the high-risk category, according to HAZUS, must still meet the seismic mandates by the beginning of 2013 or risk closure. To meet seismic standards, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank initiated a $151 million building project, opening a new retrofitted Northeast building in 2005. However, “We do have other buildings that need to be upgraded by the year 2013,” hospital spokesman Dan Boyle said. “There’s been some concern.” Accordingly, the move to determine the risk of collapse in an earthquake with the HAZUS methodology might be heaven sent for St. Joseph’s that is, if the remaining buildings are found to be low risk. Even before the CBSC decided to approve the use of HAZUS, Boyle said that the hospital had much to be grateful for during its retrofitting process. “We’re fortunate in that we received $88.7 million from FEMA,” Boyle explained. “We were very fortunate in getting those grants early to help build those new projects. The new building we have now is one of the seismically safest buildings that you’re going to find in the entire county. That allows our patients to feel a bit more comforted.” On the other hand, Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center did not receive the much-needed funds from FEMA it needs to make millions of dollars in seismic upgrades. It is now locked in a battle with HPC Inc., its real estate investment trust, as to which entity is responsible for making the costly repairs. But Steve Campanini of Tenet, the company that owns the hospital, does not believe the decision to use HAZUS to determine seismic risk will have any bearing on the medical center’s difficulties. “The suit against Healthcare Properties focuses on its bad faith dealings with Tenet and their failure to honor obligations under the lease agreement, including permitting the hospital to assign the lease and operations to a new hospital operator,” Campanini stated. “Tenet’s view is any construction work that might be required under the seismic regulations is the responsibility of the landlord.” Under the old methodology, Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center faces closure if it does not make seismic upgrades by 2013.

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