Covert Bonus On April 1st!?

It sounds like an April Fool's joke! The PPH Board is considering a bonus for Covert AFTER a year in which the Medical Village in downtown Escondido was neglected, the Pomerado Hospital Expansion funds were diverted, and the budget for new ERTC/Kaiser hospital budget continues to spiral out of control! Here the agenda for the "special" meeting! http://www.pph.org/Media/File/
Board_Meetings/spbm_20090401_289.pdf

The PPH Board may be really out of touch with the current economic situation. The latest Finance Committee report shows PPH making only $3,296 in February, before property taxes were factored in. http://www.pph.org/Media/File/
Board_Meetings/ip_20090331_288.pdf (pdf slide 86 of 129)

Is PPH headed into the "AIG" zone!

DPR Contract "Hides" Known Increases

The "new" DPR contract has significant potential for later cost increases. The proposed contract has a baseline amount for DPR of about $43.1 million "based on an estimated Substantial Completion Date of July 1, 2011." [Section 5.2] If the Final Project Schedule indicates that the completion date will be later, then DPR compensation is increased.
http://www.pph.org/Media/File/
Board_Meetings/ip_20090331_288.pdf (pdf slide 42 of 129)

The Final Project Schedule from DPR is not due until July 1, 2009! [Section 2.4.4]

Referring back to the schedule I analyzed in my post below on May 14, 2008, the start of the steel structure was delayed from July 1, 2008 to mid-November, a 4 1/2 month delay. I believe it would be extremely difficult to meet the "estimated" completion date of July 1, 2011, given the already known delays. Further, numerous statements from PPH officials have placed the completion date well into 2012.

A year ago, this change was supposed to save money for PPH:
"Eight months after it broke ground on its new hospital, Palomar Pomerado Health is preparing to change construction managers in hopes of shaving up to $50 million off the cost."
PPH to change contractors on hospital construction project

It is quite interesting how the North County Times and the Union Tribune continues to print whatever fiction PPH feeds them!

PPH Update by Jim Vander Spek

Jim Vander Spek writes another insightful letter:

The latest news out of PPH is not encouraging. After Prop BB was passed and this agency announced that a new site in the boondocks was chosen for the new hospital, many predicted that their facility plan was taking on the appearance of a slow moving train wreck. That is now coming true.

Most recently, our local daily newspaper reported that the new ERTC hospital is costing roughly twice what Sharp is paying for their similar sized facility in San Diego. The PPH bond rating has been lowered, and operating results have turned negative.

The new hospital will be outrageously expensive but also sadly deficient. For example, it will not house a woman’s health facility because funds ran out. Further cutbacks on “frills” have also been announced.

Promised clinics in San Marcos, Valley Center and even Ramona are doubtful or abandoned. As for the downtown Escondido improvements, we can forget about that. Only a clinic near Rancho Bernardo has materialized, probably to staunch the bleeding from inroads that Scripps Hospitals is making in that area.

All of this could have been avoided if PPH had stuck to their original plan of using taxpayer moneys to expand and modernize the Escondido site. It would have been done by now and a jewel for North County. Instead, in order to meet the facility needs of Kaiser Hospitals, we have what we have, if they indeed can even finish what they started.

http://www.thecommunitypaper.com/
archive/2009/03_19/letters.php
A special THANK YOU to Lyle Davis of THE PAPER for his work in shining light on the Covert Operations at PPH!

PPH's Ultra Expensive Hospital of the Future

"The hospital of the future' being built in western Escondido is projected to cost $934 million, more than four times as much as a $194 million 'hospital of the future' that opened last month in San Diego."
Timing, land costs make new hospital more expensive than SD facility

FOUR TIMES AS MUCH! PPH is frittering away taxpayer funds, and is continuing to neglect the downtown facility.

PPH Board Blindsided by Covert Cost Increases

The PPH Board member never ask probing questions of PPH CEO Michael Covert. For that reason, Covert has again blindsided with further cost increases on the new hospital.

"Hospital trustees said they were surprised the transition costs had not been included in previous budgets, and Trustee Nancy Bassett urged district staff members to avoid handing trustees large bills at the last minute."
Transition costs for new hospital may be $20M [North County Times]

Cost Cuts Plague New Hospital

The costs for PPH's expansion plan have spiraled out of control until it hitting a ceiling of implausibility. PPH cannot hope to raise enough money to complete the "Hospital of the Future" as presently configured. The present configuration has had numerous cuts over the years, but now the PPH Board members are being forced to cut pet features.

"The $21.4 million in cuts approved Monday include eliminating water features, an outdoor playground, several gardens, a library, meditation room, conference center and a large electronic drape that would display soothing images. "
Trustees cut $21M in features from new Escondido hospital [North County Times]

As long as the present administration continues, these features (and more to come) will be gone forever!