The Argonaut
Small turnout
for first public hearing on closure of
BY CINDY FRAZIER
About 30 people testified during a public hearing Monday,
September 23rd, that
Some former patients said they might not be alive today if
not for the
But a lack of speakers caused the meeting to end an hour earlier than planned.
About 75 people attended the meeting, held in the Venice High School Auditorium.
A second hearing is planned for
The hearings are being conducted to comply with an order issued by Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs, after State Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued Tenet, accusing the giant healthcare firm of not allowing community input about the closure, a condition required by the state before the hospital may close.
Tenet purchased the
Tenet plans to spend more than a million dollars to upgrade
the
Tenet is a Fortune 500 company that owns more than a dozen
hospitals in the
Retired federal judge John Davies led the September 23rd
meeting and told the audience he is neutral on the issue of closing the
"The hospital has a true desire and great interest in hearing what you think," Davies told those who attended the meeting.
Davies asked the audience to respond to a list of 15
questions from Tenet concerning the
The questions involved whether the
OPTIONS — Davies said the Marina Hospital Governing Board and Tenet are considering four options for the hospital:
1. Keeping the hospital open and bringing the hospital into compliance with seismic, fire/life/safety, Americans With Disabilities Act, and other legal requirements;
2. keeping the hospital open and making a more significant capital investment;
3. closing the hospital; and
4. closing the hospital while addressing the needs of the community through any or all of the following:
— establishment of an urgent care
center in the
— enhancement of the existing Tenet-owned Centinela Airport Medical Clinic, 9601 Sepulveda Blvd., near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), to qualify the Centinela Clinic as a paramedic receiving facility; and
— monetary contributions to local
agencies, organizations and clinics that provide health care to underserved
groups in the
LIVES SAVED — Many speakers said they had received life-saving procedures at the hospital, or used the hospital emergency room (ER).
Tom Vrevalovich, a Marina City
Club resident, said he had been treated efficiently by the Marina ER, and he
worries that, if the
"If the hospital closes, you'll need to double or triple the number of paramedics because they will be traveling farther distances to other hospitals," Vrevalovich said.
Rhoda Rich, another Marina City Club resident, said she was "dying" last June when she was taken to the Marina ER.
"They saved my life," she said. "I was in the ICU [intensive care unit] for four days and would not have survived without medical attention."
Rich wondered if
"I insist you stay open," Rich told Tenet officials.
"We need a larger facility because of the influx of people to the area," Rickman said.
One speaker said he was "lucky to be alive" after
a diabetic episode to which paramedics responded and took him to the
The
Another woman said she had received "excellent
care" at the
"You need to stay open to meet the needs of an aging population," she said.
Jack Cumming, of the Del Rey area, said that Tenet "has a responsibility" to keep the healthcare system intact. "Tenet needs to restore our trust," he said.
Another man who said he had had a coronary bypass operation
at the
"I hope
Christopher Syverson of the Culver
City Fire Department said the closure of the
"Twenty percent of our patients go to Daniel Freeman Marina, and we have had a problem with ER diversions and closures [due to saturation]," Syverson said. "We are concerned about lengthy transport times for our patients."
A woman from Playa del Rey said people from her area use the
"The urgent care facility at LAX is out of range for us because there's too much traffic," she said.
"You are creating medical refugees and making us go elsewhere, where we are not wanted," Robinson said.
OUT OF COMPLIANCE? — Leslie Bennett, an attorney with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, accused the hospital of not complying with Janavs' order to restore the hospital to a previous level of service.
Tenet spokesman David Langness
confirmed Bennett's claim that chemical dependency (substance abuse treatment)
and psychiatric units had not been restored at the
Both of those units have been moved to
Comment on the hospital closure issue may be submitted in writing and mailed to:
or sent by e-mail to:
publicinput@marinahospital.com