“This bill would risk patient and worker safety by delaying decades long requirements that California’s hospitals be functional and not at risk of evacuation in the aftermath of a major earthquake. The author and sponsor have rejected amendments to increase transparency, accountability and to prevent automatic extensions. The bill now allows hospitals to continue to evade compliance with the standard and puts patients, first responders, and workers at risk.” — California Federation of Labor Unions
This is what opponents are saying about a bill that would provide hospitals with desperately needed time to comply with the 2030 seismic mandate and protect patient access to care.
And this is why every hospital leader in California needs to stand up and be heard in support of CHA’s sponsored bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1432, which came out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week.
The bill, which would provide up to five years of additional time to comply with the mandate — at the discretion of the Department of Health Care Access and Information — now has three gates to clear before it could become law: a vote on the Assembly floor, a concurrence vote on the Senate floor, and the governor’s signature.
If the quote above is any indication, over the next several weeks, it is expected that opponents of the bill will step up their advocacy, pressing for a maximum of a three-year discretionary extension or for the bill to be killed altogether.
To be successful in securing the time hospitals need to comply with the mandate and preserve access to care, hospital leaders need to share with senators and assemblymembers why they need more time to comply with the 2030 standard, and that the reasonable approach SB 1432 provides helps protect patients. At the same time, we must ensure that policymakers have a crystal-clear understanding of the facts:
- First and foremost, hospitals in California are safe. They will remain standing during an earthquake and patients and health care workers should be reassured that they work or receive care in what are among the most seismically durable buildings in the world.
- Second, this accomplishment is the result of decades of work and billions of dollars already invested on the part of hospitals. Hospitals understand and are committed to the special role they play in their communities. They have worked tirelessly for nearly 30 years to bring hospitals to the safe place they are now.
- Finally, and this is the point we all must address in this moment: Extending the time for hospitals to meet the additional 2030 seismic standard is really a question about whether communities throughout California want to play a dangerous game of “chicken” with their health care. While five years would provide a path for many hospitals, but not all, to meet these standards, three years would instead drive many hospitals to reduce or eliminate services or, in the worst case, close altogether as required by current seismic law on Jan. 1, 2030.
California hospitals have never wavered from their commitment to their communities. We know the devastation a hospital closure can cause — both economically to a community and more importantly to families who rely on hospitals for lifesaving care — from the recent, tragic example of closure in Madera County.
We cannot let that happen again. California can and must do better. We must give hospitals the path and time they need to build for the future with their community partners, at the same time protecting access to the health care Californians need.
Just as California hospitals today stand safe and stand with their communities, legislators must do the same, so together we can bring about a strong, viable health care system that delivers for all Californians.
