Has PPH Given Up on the ERTC?

On June 28, The Board of Directors of PPH had a closed session to give intruction to their negotiator, Robert Hemker, concerning the "Agency's interest in land, price and terms of payment". The property was identified as ERTC 6.6 acres known as proposed parcels 27-29 and 30-36. Public records show that PPH owns parcels 30-32 which amount to about 6.6 acres. Also, public records show that PPH has an option on parcels 27-29 and 33-36. Public records show that JRM-ERTC, the seller, has relocation rights in parcels 30-32, which means that the seller has the right to reacquire parcels 30-32 and relocate PPH to substitute property elsewhere in the ERTC. Presumably, the seller will invoke this right if PPH does not acquire parcels 27-29 and 33-36, or some substantial portion thereof.
The public property records are available at the links below:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226220GrantDeed.PDF
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226221relocation.PDF
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226222option.PDF

The ERTC parcel (or lot) map is available at:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/ERTC-Blog.GIF

At the closed meeting of June 28, PPH would have been discussing either:
1) exercising the option to acquire parcels 27-29 and 33-36; or
2) relocating from parcels 30-32 to other parcels in the ERTC.

We do not know.

The options on parcels 27-29 and 33-36 are reported to expire on August 27, 2005. See North County Times:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/30/
news/inland/22_44_526_29_05.txt

Based on recent activity, it would be incredible for PPH to be having serious negotiations to execise the option on parcels 27-29 and 33-36. PPH says it is looking at other property in San Marcos and Escondido, and it is expecting to meet with Escondido next week to discuss the Spruce site. Leaking the San Marcos property search before negotiating with JRM-ERTC for acquiring parcels 27-29 and 33-36 would have been an impressive tactic, but the timing (before the Escondido meeting) was wrong for political reasons. Also, the terms of exercising the option appear to have been set by the Option to Purchase, Purchase Agreement, and Escrow Instructions dated as of Feberuary 11, 2005, executed by the buyer and the seller, and referenced in the public record Relocation Right Agreement. What more needs to be negotiated just to exercise the option?

Instead, I suspect that PPH has given up on the ERTC. I believe that they learned that the environmental issues were too difficult to mitigate. How can a hospital be placed next to a 500MW electric power plant?

In the closed meeting, I also suspect that PPH was negotiating for the best possible relocation parcels they could get from JRM-ERTC. PPH may not have obtained what they wanted--or, they may not have wanted to finalized the relocation matter on June 28 because the timing would be wrong for letting the public to find out that PPH has given up on the ERTC.

But the meeting was closed to the public, and apparently, no reportable action took place. My comments are pure speculation based on tidbits of information. Time will tell.

Covert Operations in High Gear

Michael Covert, the CEO of the Palomar Pomerado Health (PPH) district has had a very busy week.

By Friday, June 24, news was leaked that PPH is considering a location in San Marcos by Cal State San Marcos.

On Friday, June 24, a special meeting of the Board of Directors was called for June 28 to consider 6.6 acres known as proposed parcels 27-29 and 30-36 in the ERTC. (Actually, this is noticed incorrectly. Only parcels 30-32 are 6.6 acres. Parcels 27-36 are 56 acres with 36 acres of pad area. See Blog entry for June 02 "ERTC Subdivision Map - Hospital Lots" below). The agenda indicated "Possible Action." See agenda item below:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/
PPHbdagenda062705s-c.PDF

On Tuesday, June 28, he attended the special meeting of the Board of Directors. Apparently, no "reportable" action was taken regarding the ERTC parcels. After the closed meeting, the Board approves the FY2006 Capital and Operating Budgets amounting to $369 million. See report in the North County Times:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/29/
news/inland/0_00_386_28_05.txt

On Wednesday, June 29, he met with City Councilman Ed Gallo of Escondido's Hospital ad hoc Committee. The Councilman is "heartened" by the meeting. See report in the North County Times:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/30/
news/inland/22_44_526_29_05.txt

Wow! The Covert operations in the Sunshine state are in high gear!

PPH Pulls the Trigger on San Marcos Threat

PPH in now investigating hospital sites in San Marcos. See link below:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/
20050625/news_1mi25ehosp.html

Apparently this investigation is being pursued without direction by the PPH Board because no such direction from the Board has occurred in a board meeting.

Texas Power Plant Fire Pictures

These pictures are incredible! The power plant in Texas was only two years old and was about the size of the Palomar Energy Project in the Escondido Research and Technology Center (ERTC). Just image the Trauma Center being located about 1000 feet from this fire!! Unbelievable. Below is a link to pictures of the fire:

http://www.beckville.com/archives/000338.php

A picture of the Entergy's Harrison County Power Plant before the fire can be found at the link below:

http://www.epous.com/EPOUS/
customerbase/default.asp

The fire occurred on May 13, 2005. See blog entry below under Saturday, June 4, 2005

Helicopter Engine Flameout over the Carlsbad Power Plant

Another incident demonstrates the dangers of a natural gas fueled power plant. Placing the new hospital with the North County's only Trauma Center next to a large electric power plant is not a wise decision.

A helicopter was disabled and was forced to make a hard landing after its engine died flying over the smoke stack of the Encina electric power plant in Carlsbad, California:

"As the helicopter passed over the top of the smokestack, the engine flamed out. . . ."

"Why did the engine flame out? Lack of oxygen in the gases coming out of the smoke stack. The recording equipment in the power plant showed that the oxygen content of the stack gases was about 7 percent at the time of the flight. Not enough to sustain life or combustion."

The "Smokestack Flameout" story begins about two-thirds of the way down the web page at the following link.

http://www.aviationtoday.com/cgi/am/show_mag.cgi?pub=am&mon=0501&file=0501flameout.htm

PPH Facilities Master Plan - July 2004

The Facilities Master Plan outlines the building projects that are being undertaken by PPH. A copy may be found at the link at the end of this post. A conceptual organization of the new hospital is shown on pages 2-5 to 2-10 (pdf pages 35 to 40). The existing and planned uses for the Palomar Medical Center (PMC) are shown on pages 3-1 to 3-12 (pdf pages 41 to 52).

Of particular interest are the construction dates and infrastructure ratings for the buildings of PMC shown on page 3-3 (pdf page 43). The existing facility analysis shows that the South Wing and the West Wing are less than 20 years old. PPH keeps telling us that PMC is 50 years old. The only building at PMC that is 50 years old is the Adams Wing!

The original plan is a color document. The document at the link below is scanned at 150 dpi (black and white).
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/ PPHMasterFacilityPlan07-2004p150PDF.pdf (1.9 MB)
The document at 300 dpi is about 5.1 MB. I will post the higher resolution black and white document if requested. Add a comment or send an email to: civics at robroy dot cc

What Is The Difference Between A Trauma Center and An Emergency Room

During the campaign for Proposition BB, PPH placed much emphasis on the importance of North County's Trauma Center. I have been unable to locate "The Trauma Center" at Palomar Medical Center (PMC). Why?

Because a trauma center refers to a hospital having certain capabilities. Thus, PMC is "The Trauma Center." Trauma is physical injury caused by events such as motor-vehicle crashes, falls, explosions, shootings, or stabbings. A Trauma System is an inclusive, regionalized coordinated effort organized to delivery the full range of care to all injured patients. Trauma systems are integrated within the local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. The availability of trained personnel and specialized equipment qualifies a hospital as a trauma center. Also, not all trauma centers are equal. An excellent summary and definition of a Trauma Program is given at the following link:
http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/chn/Trauma/TraumaDef.shtml

Trauma center designations are used primarily by EMS for determining where to transport a trauma victim. Detailed information regarding California's trauma system, including applicable laws and regulations, is available at the following link:
http://www.emsa.ca.gov/emsdivision/trmapage.asp

Palomar Medical Center is a Level II trauma center. A listing and a map showing levels and locations of the trauma centers in California is available at the following link:
http://www.emsa.ca.gov/emsdivision/
trauma_center_page.asp

San Diego County has two Level I trauma centers (Scripps-Mercy Hospital & UCSD Medical Center), three Level II trauma centers (PMC, Scripps Memorial & Sharp Memorial Hospital), and one Level II pediatric trauma center (Children's Hospital).

"The term trauma center refers to a hospital that maintains specialized equipment and a panel of physician specialists, including a trauma surgeon available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to treat trauma patients."
LA County Proposition B - Preservation of Trauma Centers and Emergency Medical Services; Bioterrorism Response, County of Los Angeles; 2002 Election.
The full text of the proposition is available at the following link:
http://www.smartvoter.org/2002/11/05/ca/la/meas/B/

A good description of the trauma program in South Carolina is available at the following link:
http://www.scdhec.gov/hr/ems/trauma.htm

PPH Tells Peers - PPH Viewed as Third Tier Health Provider

I located this interesting piece of information while searching the web. Apparently Palomar Pomerado Health will be telling its peers that PPH has been viewed as a second or third tier health provider. Whoever thought this would be a good idea appears to be marketing their administrative vision at the expense of the health care reputation of PPH. The following is copied from the web:

The Symposium on HealthCare Design, Sept. 26-28, 2005, Atlanta, Georgia
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 – 1:30 – 2:30 PM
The Quest for Innovation – Aligning Community Benefit and Organizational Strategy
“Pomerado Health (PPH) is a public district hospital system that covers 800 square miles (the largest health district in California). To meet the growing community's needs, update aging infrastructure systems and to integrate advances in medical technologies; PPH is planning significant improvements to their facilities ($753 million project cost). Two years ago PPH was viewed as a second or third tier health provider - as patients made choices for their care, they would consider driving further to other providers who seemingly provided better care. PPH was struggling financially, they were burdened by out of date facilities and the culture was mired in the past. Along comes a newly appointed CEO who in conjunction with the Board: forged a new vision ("to be the health system of choice and recognized nationally for the highest quality of care)is challenging PPH staff to rethink how they approach their work led the efforts in getting a $500 million bond passed. “

http://www.hcaredesign.com/sessions_byDay.asp#S1415

Natural Gas Pipeline Feeding an Electric Power Plant Explodes

Last month a natural gas pipeline feeding a two-year old electric power plant exploded.

PPH wants to move the North San Diego County's only Trauma center across the street from a similarly sized electric power plant fueled by natural gas. An inadvisable move! See links below:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4487408/detail.html

http://www.news-journal.com/news/ content/news/stories/2005/05/13/
Marshall_explode_2.html; . . . .

Land Records of PPH in the ERTC

Here are copies of the San Diego County Recorder's records of the PPH land interests in the ERTC.
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226220GrantDeed.PDF (51 KB) Lots 30-32
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226221relocation.PDF (129 KB) Lots 30-32
Note that the Relocation agreement references an Option to Purchase, Purchase Agreement and Escrow Instructions dated February 11, 2005! No wonder PPH has refused to give adequate consideration to other hosptial sites.
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/2005-0226222option.PDF (128 KB) Lots 27-39 & 33-36.

It appears that PPH has already negatively affected the stated purpose of the ERTC -- attracting a biotechnology company to Escondido:

North County Times: ESCONDIDO 12/24/2004 -- A new hospital or a biotech company appear to be the two main contenders as the anchor tenant for the business park under construction at the west edge of Escondido. . . .

"We can't accommodate all of the interested parties," [James] McCann said Thursday. "No big decision has been made, but what's happening is, we're narrowing down the possible anchor tenants.". . .

McCann did not explain how a biotechnology firm using up 10 acres -- the rough footprint of a 150,000-square-foot building -- would preclude a 50-acre hospital.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/25/ business/news/7_39_5012_24_04.txt

PPH Has Given Up on PMC. Should Sell It.

The Palomar Medical Center in Escondido should be sold to those who care. A scaled-down PMC is a viable hospital platform for serving the communities of Escondido and Valley Center. PMC has 180,000 square feet of hospital space built since 1987 [that] is in full compliance with the seismic requirements of SB 1953. Housed in this compliant space is the heart of an acute care hospital and trauma center. Furthermore, the parking structure and heliport, built in 1985, are in compliance with the seismic requirements. The potential conversion of the eastern portion of the parking structure into usable hospital space should be investigated.

The Palomar Pomerado Hospital District has given up on PMC as a usable acute care hospital and trauma center and wants to dismantle its modern and seismically compliant facilities. Instead of dismantling PMC, the district should sell it, giving fair credit to the communities of Escondido and Valley Center for the tax burdens imposed by Proposition BB. The district should keep its administrative office at the present location. The outpatient and mental health facilities that are currently planned for PMC may be sited on the 6.6 acres that the district has purchased in the Escondido Research and Technology Center.

Pomerado may have some minor competition from the scaled-down PMC, but the current "landlocked" location and smaller size of PMC would make it unlikely to compete with Pomerado in the rapid growth areas outside of Escondido and Valley Center. Palomar Pomerado Hospital District is the largest hospital district in California, covering an 800 square mile area experiencing rapid population growth. However, the most rapid growth is occurring outside of Escondido and Valley Center. San Marcos is now a vibrant city and freeway traffic concerns alone may encourage the future building of an acute care hospital in San Marcos or Vista of the same size as the current Pomerado Hospital. The district's rush to build a mega-hospital complex would eliminate that option.

The district has threatened to put its acute-care hospital outside Escondido if it cannot build its mega-hospital complex in the ERTC. Such a move would be unacceptable for a public hospital district, and the threat of such a move is a strong indicator that this one has grown too big. If the district is unwilling to maintain PMC as a scaled-down acute hospital and trauma center, or if it is unwilling to sell PMC at a fair price, the hospital district should be split along an east-west line following the San Dieguito River, Lake Hodges and San Pasqual Valley.


Published in the Union Tribune: Thursday, May 26, 2005 - Another Way to keep hospital in Escondido

Links to picture and map of the PMC showing contruction phases:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/PMC-BlogD.pdf (146 KB)
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/PMC-Blog.GIF (93KB)

California Senate OKs Delays on Hospital Upgrades

"The California Senate voted Tuesday to give hospitals an additional 12 years to make their buildings safe from earthquakes. The measure would delay one of the main safety reforms enacted after the 1994 Northridge quake."
For the entire article see:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-hosp1jun01,1,2227390.story?coll=la-news-politics-california

The bill is SB 167. Track the progress of this bill at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_167&sess=CUR&house=S

Find your CA State Assembly representative at:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm

Find your CA State Senate representative at:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/

ERTC Subdivision Map - Hospital Lots

The link below is to a picture of the ERTC Subdivision Map. PPH had an option to Lots 27-36. It purchased Lots 30-32 and still has an option on the remaining Lots.

http://members.cox.net/4robroy/ERTC-Blog.GIF (Click on icon to enlarge image)

The land records can be found at the following link:

http://arcc.co.san-diego.ca.us/services/grantorgrantee/search.asp?txtFormInput=palomar+pomerado&SUBMIT1=Search

(I have copies of the recorded documents: 2005-0226220,2005-0226221, 2005-0226222. I will try to post them soon)

PPH land purchase guts the ERTC

The Specific Plan for the Escondido Research and Technology Center (ERTC) envisions 1.2 million square feet of research and development facilities on about 80 acres. The research center's main 40-acre pad is its crown jewel for attracting one or two anchor tenants.The center's remaining 40 acres are split between six rather unremarkable pads, the largest remaining pad being about 12 acres. A brewery has already acquired six acres. If the main 40-acre pad is occupied by the new PPH hospital, only about 34 acres of buildable pad area will remain.The project will cease to be an attractive research and technology center. Further, the ERTC's 40-acre crown jewel will be exempt from property taxes because PPH is a government entity, resulting in yearly loss of property tax revenue of at least $400,000.PPH has already purchased 6.6 acres to lock up the main 40-acre pad. Until PPH sells those 6.6 acres, any new tenant to the center is limited to a project that is no larger than about 200,000 square feet on about 12 acres. If the new hospital is placed in the ERTC, Escondido will never have a research and technology center of any significance.

Published in the North County Times:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/05/21/ opinion/letters/5_20_0521_56_37.txt