California City facility studied by Tehachapi health district
Skilled nursing facility suggested
TEHACHAPI - A suggestion that could result in building a skilled nursing facility in California City as part of a plan to build a new hospital in Tehachapi was discussed at a meeting last week of the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District's building committee.
Ray Hino, Chief Executive Officer of TVHCD, said that one possible scenario brought up at the meeting included building a new acute care facility in Tehachapi, owned by TVHCD, and a skilled nursing facility, which would be owned and operated by the East Kern Health Care District in California City.
If the two Districts were to work together, the Cal City Nursing Home facility could benefit from the collaboration with lower costs and higher revenues. Tehachapi would benefit by having a presence in California City and could receive more business from California City.
Hospital Board members attending the meeting stressed that there have been no discussions with California City officials about this.
But Gisela Schulz, a member of the East Kern Healthcare District board, said Saturday that the proposal was promising. Attending a meeting of the TVHCD's committee developing plans for a new health care facility in Tehachapi, Schulz said she believes the suggestion should be pursued.
Hospital plans
Hino said the TVHCD building committee met November 12 with a representative of the architectural firm developing plans for a new health care facility. David Yarbrough, Senior Planner for Aspen Street Architects said the first step in the process is planning.
Hospital Board members, hospital staff and members of the public listened to a presentation that discussed the challenges that face Tehachapi in order to make the dream of building a new facility into a reality
The challenges include financing a new facility and maintaining sufficient hospital revenues to support one. Yarbrough said that Tehachapi is fortunate to have been selected as the pilot project for the Rural Health Design Consortium. He commended Tehachapi Hospital for its community relations strategy.
A community assessment underway for several months is expected to report on the financial feasibility of a new facility. TVHCD CEO Raymond Hino said the preliminary results of the assessment are encouraging. A firm retained by the district to explore the possibility of conducting a general obligation bond election in 2004 to finance a new facility will report on the feasibility of a bond election which could occur as early as March of 2004.
Yarborough said a recommendation is expected to come from the Community Assessment Report that Tehachapi work cooperatively with outlying communities, including California City, Mojave and Boron to increase patient activity at Tehachapi Hospital.
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