By Clyde Noel

The El Camino Hospital Board of Directors is going all out to pass Measure D. Jon Friedenberg, chief executive officer of the El Camino Hospital Foundation, told the directors last week that the phone bank has made enormous progress informing voters about the importance of Measure D.

“We will have supporters walking the precincts every weekend until Election Day,” Friedenberg said. “We expect a large vote and we want to get every volunteer in the right place.”

The recently enacted state seismic-safety law, Senate Bill 1953, requires that all California hospitals be built to survive and remain operational in the aftermath of a major earthquake. Hospitals not in compliance by 2008 will be forced to reduce acute-care services and could be forced to close.

The state has not allocated any funds to pay for seismic upgrades to California hospitals, the financing must come from individual communities.

“Measure D is extremely important to the community, and we need all the volunteers we can get to be well-positioned on Election Day,” Friedenberg said. “We will have the more experienced people in our phone banks calling on the undecided voters.”

Measure D will provide funds for an earthquake-safe hospital, built to accommodate the most up-to-date medical technologies and innovations to improve patient convenience and safety.

On an average day, more than 950 patients visit the first-floor emergency department.

The hospital retrofit will be financed by a combination of sources, including the hospital’s cash reserves, a capital campaign, tax-exempt bonds as well as a voter-approved general obligation bond (Measure D). The total budget for the rebuilding of the hospital is almost $2.99 million.

Of interest to the voters, El Camino is a locally governed independent community hospital not owned by a large HMO or a state health-care corporation.

El Camino Hospital was built in 1961 and has fulfilled the health-care needs of the growing population since then. It has met the changing needs of the community and serves as a vital link in our community’s emergency response network.

Measure D will ensure emergency services will be available in the community should a major quake occur, according to hospital supporters.

Of the $298 million required to rebuild the hospital, $150 million will come from hospital reserves, leaving $148 million to be covered by Measure D. The tax required to fund the Measure D bonds will be $12.90 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed valuation in fiscal years 2004-07.