Contra Costa County Board of Supes Oks Financial Support Plan to Avert Hospital's Closure

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to approve a pair of debt relief measures for Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo that have been billed as a key step in a fiscal plan to rescue the ailing hospital.

The board voted 4-1 in favor of a resolution to delay a $3 million debt repayment owed by the hospital to the county and 3-2 on a measure to permanently waive an additional three years of debt repayments totaling $9 million. The money will only be transferred if the hospital can secure financial backing from seven other funding sources, according to county and hospital officials.

Supervisor Mary Piepho voted against both measures while Supervisor Candace Andersen voted no on the second resolution, voicing their reservations about providing another round of financial support for the hospital without a long-term, sustainable financial plan in place. Since 2006, the county has given about $35 million to DMC, according to county staff documents. With just enough money to get through the first quarter of 2015, the debt relief measures were described by Supervisor John Gioia and hospital leaders as a crucial piece of a five-year, eight-point plan developed by DMC officials to avert closure and to close the hospital’s $18 million annual budget deficit. The plan would also provide enough income to restore emergency services at DMC and keep it open as a full-service hospital.

“I wanted the county to step forward as the first stakeholder to commit to closing DMC’s financial deficit and hope that this action encourages other stakeholders to do the same immediately,” Gioia said. “Every piece is necessary to make this work,” he said. The other pieces include potential revenue from a June 2015 parcel tax measure, financial support from other area hospitals, increased charitable giving to the DMC Foundation, about $4 million in annual savings from changes to hospital employees’ health care plan, higher reimbursement rates from a new residency and training program at the hospital, and a one-time $15 million donation from the city of Richmond from a community investment agreement with Chevron.

Gioia also noted that the county would also bear financial losses if DMC closed, and said the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez has already faced higher costs due to the hospital’s downsizing in recent months. Several county residents and health care providers who spoke at today’s board meeting agreed, and many said it is the county’s duty to provide health care services to low-income residents.

“This board has the responsibility for health care, particularly for indigent and low-income people in the county,” Richmond resident Mike Parker said. California Nurses Association organizer Pilar Schiavo said the hospital must remain open to ensure timely emergency care for patients in the surrounding area. “Doctors is worth saving - it saves lives and right now the situation is that instead of someone who lives a block away going to Doctors Medical Center, they have to go to Martinez,” she said. Schiavo also noted that DMC was the first stop for many of the 15,000 people who sought hospital treatment after the massive fire at Chevron’s Richmond refinery in August 2012.

The hospital’s long-term financial struggles stem from a payer mix of mostly uninsured or underinsured patients. In 2010, the hospital went bankrupt and earlier this year, DMC leaders announced it was preparing to shut its doors following the failure of a May parcel tax measure meant to avert closure.

By Bay City News

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