BILL ANALYSIS
AB 411
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 411 (Garrick and Harkey)
As Amended June 1, 2009
Majority vote
HEALTH 16-1 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Jones, Fletcher, Adams, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Ammiano, Block, Carter, | |Ammiano, |
| |Conway, De Leon, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Emmerson, Hall, | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| |Hernandez, Bonnie | |Harkey, Miller, |
| |Lowenthal, Nava, | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | V. Manuel Perez, | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| |Salas, | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| |Audra Strickland | |Krekorian |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Hayashi | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires health care districts that own or operate a
hospital that has been denied a request for an extension of the
seismic retrofit deadlines to report to the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), on or before March 1,
2010, the following:
1)The district's efforts to comply with the seismic deadlines;
including but not limited to, the reassessment of the
structural performance of the district's hospital buildings;
and,
2)Efforts to secure passage of local bond financing for seismic
safety compliance, including specified information on barriers
to passage of bond financing for compliance purposes and the
extent to which the votes cast exceeded 50% but failed to
reach the required vote threshold .
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes OSHPD authority over the construction of health
care facilities.
2)Establishes the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic
Safety Act, and its amendments, which require:
AB 411
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a) After January 1, 2008, any general acute care hospital
building determined to be a potential risk for collapse or
significant loss of life to only be used for nonacute care
hospital purposes;
b) OSHPD to authorize extensions of the deadline above if
the hospital agrees that by January 1, 2013, designated
services will be provided by moving into an existing
conforming building, relocating to a newly-built building,
or continuing in the retrofitted building, as specified,
and permits an additional two-year extension under certain
circumstances;
c) OSHPD to authorize extensions to the deadline to the
year 2020, by filing a declaration with OSHPD that the
owner lacks financial capacity to comply with the law; and,
d) No later than January 1, 2030, owners of all acute care
inpatient hospitals to demolish, replace, or close all
hospital buildings not in substantial compliance; and,
e) Any hospital eligible for an extension to meet the
January 1, 2030 requirement.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no direct fiscal impact for OSHPD to receive a report
from a hospital authorized by current law. This bill requires
one hospital to report to OSHPD on information already publicly
available about the facility's struggle to get financial support
to complete statutory timelines and requirements with regard to
seismic safety.
COMMENTS : This bill is intended to provide additional
information to OSHPD and the Legislature regarding the ability
of hospital districts to arrange local bond financing for
seismic improvements. According to the author's office,
Tri-City Medical Center (Tri-City) in Oceanside has failed in
three attempts to raise bond initiative financing to pay for the
hospital's seismic retrofit. Tri-City has made a good faith
effort to meet current standards, claims the author, but the
district simply cannot achieve the vote necessary to authorize
bond financing. Without bond financing or an extension of the
deadlines, the author fears closure of Tri-City is possible.
California's hospital seismic safety law, SB 1953 (Alquist),
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Chapter 740, Statutes of 1994, was passed by the Legislature a
few months after the Northridge earthquake. SB 1953 requires
every hospital building to comply with two deadlines. By
January 1, 2008 (or January 1, 2013, if an extension has been
granted), every hospital building must meet specific
construction standards to remain standing after a major
earthquake. By January 1, 2030, the law requires compliance
with higher construction standards intended to keep hospital
buildings operational following a severe earthquake.
Based on an April 2001 survey by OSHPD, approximately 40% of the
state's 2,700 hospital buildings must either be retrofitted or
rebuilt to meet the 2008 and 2013 construction standards.
Buildings that do not meet this requirement must be closed to
patient care. The California Building Standards Commission has
approved implementation of a state-of-the-art risk technology,
HAZUS (Hazards U.S. Multi-Hazard), to reexamine the seismic risk
of Structural Performance Category-1 (SPC-1) hospital buildings.
SPC-1 buildings are considered at risk of collapse in an
earthquake and must be retrofitted, replaced, or closed to
patient care by 2013. This reassessment allows OSHPD to
reprioritize SPC-1 hospital buildings based on their seismic
risk and change buildings to a lower risk category.
Reclassified hospital buildings would move from a 2008 and 2013
seismic deadline to a 2030 deadline. It is estimated that 50%
to 60% of the 1100 SPC-1 buildings would qualify for the
reclassification under the new HAZUS methodology.
Tri-City Medical Center has applied for HAZUS review of its
three main structures including the central tower, south tower,
and south tower stair shaft. Based on the HAZUS reevaluation to
date, the south tower has been upgraded to a SPC-2 building and
is no longer subject to the 2013 deadline, but is extended to
the 2030 deadline. OSHPD reports the HAZUS evaluation of
Tri-City's remaining buildings requires materials testing and is
ongoing. In March of this year, OSHPD denied Tri-City's
application for an extension under SB 306 (Ducheny), Chapter
642, Statutes of 2006, based on the hospital's inability to meet
the specified financial criteria.
Analysis Prepared by : John D. Miller / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097 FN: 0001323