BILL ANALYSIS
SB 289
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 289 (Ducheny) - As Amended: April 23, 2009
Policy Committee: HealthVote:18-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires hospitals that have requested an extension of
statutory seismic safety deadlines pursuant to SB 1661, Chapter
679, Statutes of 2006 to submit additional information by June
30, 2011 to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development (OSHPD) and requires OSHPD to make this additional
data available on their website. The additional information
includes:
1)The number and service type of inpatient beds for building
planned for retrofit or replacement.
2)The dates a building will be removed from service and the
services currently provided.
3)The number of inpatient beds and patient days by type of
service for 2008, 2009, and 2010.
4)The net change in number of beds due to retrofit, replacement,
and removal from service.
FISCAL EFFECT
No direct fiscal impact to OSHPD to continue oversight of
hospital seismic safety and post additional data items from
hospitals requesting an extension of seismic safety deadlines.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the California Hospital
Association (CHA) and increases the specificity of information
available about hospitals seeking seismic safety extensions
SB 289
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established by SB 1661. The author indicates this information
provides a statewide picture of patient care capacity and
allows communities to plan accordingly. According to the
sponsor, under current law the focus is largely on whether a
facility will meet deadlines, but not about alternate care
needs that may arise.
2)Seismic Safety Landscape . Hospitals throughout California are
subject to statutory seismic requirements and face billions of
dollars of unfunded construction needs. According to OSHPD,
there is $10 billion in hospital planning and construction
currently underway statewide. According to a 2007 study by
RAND, total construction costs for California may range from
$45 billion to $110 billion in 2006 dollars. The actual costs
will depend on project size and duration, future inflation,
and construction costs.
3)Hospital Earthquake Risk . Structural Performance Category-1
(SPC-1) hospital buildings pose a significant risk of collapse
and a danger to the public after a strong earthquake. The
lowest risk structure is an SPC-5. Under current law, SPC-1
buildings must have been retrofitted, replaced, or removed
from acute-care service by January 1, 2008, unless a hospital
has been granted an extension to 2013 or 2020. SB 1661
established eligibility for certain hospitals to receive an
extension to 2013 and SB 306 (Ducheny), Chapter 642, Statutes
of 2007 established processes for hospitals to receive the
extension to 2020. According to estimates, about half of the
2,000 hospital buildings statewide had been previously
classified in the SPC-1 category and about half of SPC-1
buildings have not met or are unable meet 2008/2013 statutory
deadlines due to financial constraints. New risk
classifications are being produced related to a federal tool,
HAZUS.
4)Hazards United States (HAZUS) is a standardized federal
earthquake loss methodology that relies on mathematical
modeling along with information about building stock, economic
data, local geology and location and size of potential
earthquakes to estimate losses due to seismic events.
California is in the process of implementing HAZUS and
adjusting SPC ratings, as appropriate. According to
preliminary data, more than half of the SPC-1 hospital
buildings statewide may be reclassified to SPC-2 buildings and
therefore subject to less stringent requirements and
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timelines. SPC-2 buildings do not significantly jeopardize
life but may not be repairable following a significant
earthquake and must be brought into seismic compliance by 2030
or removed from acute care service. Results of the HAZUS
reclassification as well as updates to SB 1661 and SB 306
extension eligibility are pending with additional information
being released in the coming weeks.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081