Contra Costa County Board of Supes to Vote on Fiscal Plan to Save Hospital

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on a key aspect of a last-ditch to save the financially embattled Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo from imminent closure and restore services at the hospital. The board will vote on two financial relief measures Tuesday that would delay a $3 million property tax payment owed by the hospital to the county while permanently waiving $9 million in future repayments, according to county staff documents.

“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,” said County Supervisor John Gioia, who authored the debt relief resolutions along with Supervisor Federal Glover. “We don’t have much time,” he said.

DMC spokesman Chuck Finnie said the hospital’s current financial situation is “dire,” and estimated that without the county’s support, the hospital would likely only have enough in reserves to stay open through the first quarter of 2015. If passed, the measures would be a critical component of the West Contra Costa Healthcare District’s financial plan to restore emergency services at the hospital and prevent it from closing for at least five years.

District officials announced the five-year, eight-point “5x8 Plan” last month as the district continued to grapple with quickly dwindling funding reserves and mulled different strategies to prevent the hospital’s closure and to bridge its annual $18 to $20 million budget gap. The plan relies not only on the county support but also on a mix of other revenue including financial support from area hospitals, a June 2015 parcel tax measure, increased charitable donations to the DMC Foundation, reimbursement payments from a new training and residency program at the hospital, employee savings and a one-time $15 million payment pledged by the city of Richmond from a community investment package from Chevron.

“The board’s support is critical to our community-wide approach to saving Doctors Medical Center and acknowledges the hospital’s vital role in provision of public health services in West County,” said Eric Zell, chairman of the West Contra Costa Healthcare District. The hospital has struggled to stay afloat for years due to a mix of mostly low-income Medi-Cal and Medicare patients. It filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and has received more than $35 million in funding from the county since 2006, according to county officials.

The Board of Supervisors meeting is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Board Chambers in the County Administration Building at 651 Pine St. in Martinez.

By Bay City News

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