What’s happening: After much discussion, Assembly Health Committee members supported seismic standards Senate Bill (SB) 1432 (Caballero, D-Merced) by a 14-0 vote on Tuesday.
What else to know: CHA-sponsored SB 1432 will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August.
Health committee members continued to voice concern regarding the safety of buildings and the chaos created when staff and patient evacuation will likely happen after an earthquake. In addition, many legislators wanted assurances that further delays would not be needed and that hospitals will prioritize this work when considering capital projects.
Tom Jacoby, corporate vice president, facilities design and construction, at Scripps Health and Kelly Ash, vice president, government affairs, at Dignity Health provided valuable testimony in the committee hearing and represented the perspectives of many hospitals in California. Jacoby and Ash focused on the complexity of their respective seismic construction projects and what hospitals need to do to maintain critical patient care services while managing complicated construction projects.
SB 1432 author, Sen. Anna Caballero, and Kathryn Scott, CHA senior vice president, state relations and advocacy, reiterated that the 2020 deadline ensured that most hospitals have already met the life safety standard. They maintained that the bill creates transparency and a pathway for compliance but did not provide assurances that this was the last delay for hospitals as this work is complex and will cost billions. It is important to note that the fears of hospitals collapsing remain pervasive. CHA will continue to work on educating legislators on this concern.
Over the next month, CHA will be working with Sen. Caballero’s office and interested stakeholders, including labor unions, and the Newsom administration. The bill will be taken up in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August.
Now is the time for hospitals to let their state representatives know how important this extension is for their facilities and urge them to support this bill in its current form. In addition, for those participating in CHA’s Community Engagement project, hospital tours in July are a critical opportunity to engage legislators as they return home for the summer recess.
If you have any questions, please contact Scott at kscott@calhospital.org or Trina Gonzalez, CHA vice president, policy, at tgonzalez@calhospital.org.
