AB 2591: Acute care hospitals: seismic extentions: safety: City of Long Beach
- Session Year: 2017-2018
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2018-03-20
Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973.
Existing law provides that, after January 1, 2008, a general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or to pose significant loss of life in the event of seismic activity be used only for nonacute care hospital purposes, except that the office may grant a specified extension under prescribed circumstances. Existing law provides for extensions to be granted by the office, including authorizing a hospital that has received an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline to request an additional extension of up to 7 years for a hospital building that it owns or operates, subject to meeting specified milestones.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. extend to January 1, 2025, the time by which a hospital that is owned by the City of Long Beach is required to submit a request for a 7-year extension and would require that hospital to submit a specified timetable.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Long Beach.
Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973.
Existing law provides that, after January 1, 2008, a general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or to pose significant loss of life in the event of seismic activity be used only for nonacute care hospital purposes, except that the office may grant a specified extension under prescribed circumstances.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
(a)(1)After January 1, 2008, a general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or pose significant loss of life shall only be used for nonacute care hospital purposes, unless an extension of this deadline has been granted and either of the following occurs before the end of the extension:
(A)A replacement building has been constructed and a certificate of occupancy has been granted by the office for the replacement building.
(B)A retrofit has been performed on the building and a construction final has been obtained by the office.
(2)An extension of the deadline may be granted by the office upon a demonstration by the owner that compliance will result in a loss of health care capacity that may not be provided by other general acute care hospitals within a reasonable proximity. In its request for an extension of the deadline, a hospital shall state why the hospital is unable to comply with the January 1, 2008, deadline requirement.
(3)Prior to granting an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to this section, the office shall do all of the following:
(A)Provide public notice of a hospitals request for an extension of the deadline. The notice, at a minimum, shall be posted on the offices Internet Web site, and shall include the facilitys name and identification number, the status of the request, and the beginning and ending dates of the comment period. The notice shall advise the public of the opportunity to submit public comments pursuant to subparagraph (C). The office shall also provide notice of all requests for the deadline extension directly to interested parties upon request of the interested parties.
(B)Provide copies of extension requests to interested parties within 10 working days to allow interested parties to review and provide comment within the 45-day comment period. The copies shall include those records that are available to the public pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(C)Allow the public to submit written comments on the extension proposal for a period of not less than 45 days from the date of the public notice.
(b)(1)It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this subdivision, to facilitate the process of having more hospital buildings in substantial compliance with this chapter and to take nonconforming general acute care hospital inpatient buildings out of service more quickly.
(2)The functional contiguous grouping of hospital buildings of a general acute care hospital, each of which provides, as the primary source, one or more of the hospitals eight basic services as specified in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, may receive a five-year extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline specified in subdivision (a) of this section pursuant to this subdivision for both structural and nonstructural requirements. A functional contiguous grouping refers to buildings containing one or more basic hospital services that are either attached or connected in a way that is acceptable to the State Department of Health Care Services. These buildings may be either on the existing site or a new site.
(3)To receive the five-year extension, a single building containing all of the basic services or at least one building within the contiguous grouping of hospital buildings shall have obtained a building permit prior to 1973 and this building shall be evaluated and classified as a nonconforming, Structural Performance Category-1 (SPC-1) building. The classification shall be submitted to and accepted by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. The identified hospital building shall be exempt from the requirement in subdivision (a) until January 1, 2013, if the hospital agrees that the basic service or services that were provided in that building shall be provided, on or before January 1, 2013, as follows:
(A)Moved into an existing conforming Structural Performance Category-3 (SPC-3), Structural Performance Category-4 (SPC-4), or Structural Performance Category-5 (SPC-5) and Non-Structural Performance Category-4 (NPC-4) or Non-Structural Performance Category-5 (NPC-5) building.
(B)Relocated to a newly built compliant SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building.
(C)Continued in the building, if the building is retrofitted to an SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building.
(4)A five-year extension is also provided to a post-1973 building if the hospital owner informs the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development that the building is classified as SPC-1, SPC-3, or SPC-4 and will be closed to general acute care inpatient service use by January 1, 2013. The basic services in the building shall be relocated into an SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building by January 1, 2013.
(5)SPC-1 buildings, other than the building identified in paragraph (3) or (4), in the contiguous grouping of hospital buildings shall also be exempt from the requirement in subdivision (a) until January 1, 2013. However, on or before January 1, 2013, at a minimum, each of these buildings shall be retrofitted to an SPC-2 and NPC-3 building, or no longer be used for general acute care hospital inpatient services.
(c)On or before March 1, 2001, the office shall establish a schedule of interim work progress deadlines that hospitals shall be required to meet to be eligible for the extension specified in subdivision (b). To receive this extension, the hospital building or buildings shall meet the year 2002 nonstructural requirements.
(d)A hospital building that is eligible for an extension pursuant to this section shall meet the January 1, 2030, nonstructural and structural deadline requirements if the building is to be used for general acute care inpatient services after January 1, 2030.
(e)Upon compliance with subdivision (b), the hospital shall be issued a written notice of compliance by the office. The office shall send a written notice of violation to hospital owners that fail to comply with this section. The office shall make a copy of these notices available on its Internet Web site.
(f)(1)A hospital that has received an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may request an additional extension of up to two years for a hospital building that it owns or operates and that meets the criteria specified in paragraph (2), (3), or (5).
(2)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for extension under this subdivision and the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b).
(B)The hospital building plans were submitted to the office and were deemed ready for review by the office at least four years prior to the applicable deadline for the building. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that will be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital received a building permit for the construction described in subparagraph (A) at least two years prior to the applicable deadline for the building.
(D)The hospital submitted a construction timeline at least two years prior to the applicable deadline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent to meet the applicable deadline. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D), but factors beyond the hospitals control make it impossible for the hospital to meet the deadline.
(3)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital building is owned by a health care district that has, as owner, received the extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline, but where the hospital is operated by an unaffiliated third-party lessee pursuant to a facility lease that extends at least through December 31, 2009. The district shall file a declaration with the office with a request for an extension stating that, as of the date of the filing, the district has lacked, and continues to lack, unrestricted access to the subject hospital building for seismic planning purposes during the term of the lease, and that the district is under contract with the county to maintain hospital services when the hospital comes under district control. The office shall not grant the extension if an unaffiliated third-party lessee will operate the hospital beyond December 31, 2010.
(B)The hospital building plans were submitted to the office and were deemed ready for review by the office at least four years prior to the applicable deadline for the building. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that will be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital received a building permit for the construction described in subparagraph (B) by December 31, 2011.
(D)The hospital submitted, by December 31, 2011, a construction timeline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent and ability to meet the deadline of December 31, 2014. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for the extension, the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), and the hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital granted an extension pursuant to this paragraph shall submit an additional status report to the office, equivalent to that required by subdivision (c) of Section 130061, no later than June 30, 2013.
(4)An extension granted pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be applicable only to the health care district applicant and its affiliated hospital while the hospital is operated by the district or an entity under the control of the district.
(5)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital owner submitted to the office, prior to June 30, 2009, a request for review using current computer modeling utilized by the office and based upon software developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), referred to as Hazards US, and the building was deemed SPC-1 after that review.
(B)The hospital building plans for the building are submitted to the office and deemed ready for review by the office prior to July 1, 2010. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that shall be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital receives a building permit from the office for the construction described in subparagraph (B) prior to January 1, 2012.
(D)The hospital submits, prior to January 1, 2012, a construction timeline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent and ability to meet the applicable deadline. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for the extension, the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), and the hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital owner completes construction such that the hospital meets all criteria to enable the office to issue a certificate of occupancy by the applicable deadline for the building.
(6)A hospital located in the County of Sacramento, San Mateo, or Santa Barbara or the City of San Jose or the City of Willits that has received an additional extension pursuant to paragraph (2) or (5) may request an additional extension until September 1, 2015, to obtain either a certificate of occupancy from the office for a replacement building, or a construction final from the office for a building on which a retrofit has been performed.
(7)A hospital denied an extension pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
(8)The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this subdivision for a hospital building where the work of construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at least one year, unless the hospital demonstrates in a public document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by factors beyond its control.
(g)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (f), and Sections 130061.5 and 130064, a hospital that has received an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) also may request an additional extension of up to seven years for a hospital building that it owns or operates. The office may grant the extension subject to the hospital meeting the milestones set forth in paragraph (2).
(2)The hospital building subject to the extension shall meet all of the following milestones, unless the hospital building is reclassified as SPC-2 or higher as a result of its Hazards US score:
(A)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, a letter of intent stating whether it intends to rebuild, replace, or retrofit the building, or remove all general acute care beds and services from the building, and the amount of time necessary to complete the construction.
(B)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, a schedule detailing why the requested extension is necessary, and specifically how the hospital intends to meet the requested deadline.
(C)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, an application ready for review seeking structural reassessment of each of its SPC-1 buildings using current computer modeling based upon software developed by FEMA, referred to as Hazards US.
(D)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than January 1, 2015, plans ready for review consistent with the letter of intent submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) and the schedule submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(E)The hospital owner submits a financial report to the office at the time the plans are submitted pursuant to subparagraph (D). The report shall demonstrate the hospital owners financial capacity to implement the construction plans submitted pursuant to subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital owner receives a building permit consistent with the letter of intent submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) and the schedule submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B), no later than July 1, 2018.
(3)To evaluate public safety and determine whether to grant an extension of the deadline, the office shall consider the structural integrity of the hospitals SPC-1 buildings based on its Hazards US scores, community access to essential hospital services, and the hospital owners financial capacity to meet the deadline as determined by either a bond rating of BBB or below or the financial report on the hospital owners financial capacity submitted pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2). The criteria contained in this paragraph shall be considered by the office in its determination of whether an extension should be granted and the length of the extension.
(4)The extension or subsequent adjustments granted pursuant to this subdivision may not exceed the amount of time that is reasonably necessary to complete the construction specified in paragraph (2).
(5)If the circumstances underlying the request for extension submitted to the office pursuant to paragraph (2) change, the hospital owner shall notify the office as soon as practicable, but in no event later than six months after the hospital owner discovered the change of circumstances. The office may adjust the length of the extension granted pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) as necessary, but in no event longer than the period specified in paragraph (1).
(6)A hospital denied an extension pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
(7)The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this subdivision for a hospital building when it is determined that any information submitted pursuant to this section was falsified, the hospital failed to meet a milestone set forth in paragraph (2), or where the work of construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at least six months, unless the hospital demonstrates in a publicly available document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by factors beyond its control.
(8)Regulatory submissions made by the office to the California Building Standards Commission to implement this section shall be deemed to be emergency regulations and shall be adopted as emergency regulations.
(9)The hospital owner that applies for an extension pursuant to this subdivision shall pay the office an additional fee, to be determined by the office, sufficient to cover the additional reasonable costs incurred by the office for maintaining the additional reporting requirements established under this section, including, but not limited to, the costs of reviewing and verifying the extension documentation submitted pursuant to this subdivision. This additional fee shall not include any cost for review of the plans or other duties related to receiving a building or occupancy permit.
(10)This subdivision shall become operative on the date that the State Department of Health Care Services receives all necessary federal approvals for a 201112 fiscal year hospital quality assurance fee program that includes three hundred twenty million dollars ($320,000,000) in fee revenue to pay for health care coverage for children, which is made available as a result of the legislative enactment of a 201112 fiscal year hospital quality assurance fee program.
(h)A critical access hospital located in the City of Tehachapi may submit a seismic safety extension application pursuant to subdivision (g), notwithstanding deadlines in that subdivision that are earlier than the effective date of the act that added this subdivision. The submitted application shall include a timetable as required pursuant to subdivision (g).
(i)(1)A hospital located in the Tarzana neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles that has received extensions pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (g) may request an additional extension for a single building until October 1, 2022, in order to obtain a certificate of occupancy from the office for a replacement building.
(2)The hospital owner seeking the extension shall submit a written request that includes a timeline specifying how the hospital intends to meet the new deadline, including the construction document submission dates. The following timeline shall be met for construction document submissions:
(A)No later than January 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the second increment with information including the building core and shell of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by January 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(B)No later than March 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the first increment with information including the structural foundation, frame, and underslab utilities of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by March 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(C)No later than September 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the third increment with information on the build-out of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by September 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(D)No later than November 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the fourth increment with information on the seismic support and anchorage of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by November 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(E)The hospital owner may submit a written request to the office seeking an extension of the deadlines set forth in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D). The written request shall state with specificity the reason for the request and how the reason preventing compliance with the deadlines was outside of the control of the hospital owner. After review of the request for extension, the office may grant the request for a period of time not to exceed 30 calendar days. If the office grants the request for an extension, no fine shall accrue or be imposed during the extension period.
(3)Notwithstanding any other law, fines assessed pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be deposited into the General Fund following a determination on appeal, if any. A hospital assessed a fine pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the assessment to the Hospital Building Safety Board, provided the hospital posts the funds for any fines to be held by the office pending the resolution of the appeal.
(4)The office shall not issue a certificate of occupancy for the single replacement building until all assessed fines accrued pursuant to paragraph (2) have been paid in full, or, if an appeal is pending, have been posted subject to resolution of an appeal. Fines deposited by the hospital pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be considered paid in full for purposes of issuing a certificate of occupancy pursuant to this paragraph. This paragraph is in addition to, and is not intended to supersede, any other requirements that must be met by the hospital for issuance by the office of a certificate of occupancy.
(j)A hospital that is owned by the City of Long Beach may submit a seismic safety extension application pursuant to subdivision (g) before January 1, 2025, notwithstanding earlier deadlines in that subdivision. The submitted application shall include the timetable required pursuant to subdivision (g).
SEC. 2.The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique circumstances surrounding the surrender of the Community Hospital of Long Beach to the City of Long Beach by the private provider who formerly operated that facility.
(a)(1)After January 1, 2008, a general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or pose significant loss of life shall only be used for nonacute care hospital purposes, unless an extension of this deadline has been granted and either of the following occurs before the end of the extension:
(A)A replacement building has been constructed and a certificate of occupancy has been granted by the office for the replacement building.
(B)A retrofit has been performed on the building and a construction final has been obtained by the office.
(2)An extension of the deadline may be granted by the office upon a demonstration by the owner that compliance will result in a loss of health care capacity that may not be provided by other general acute care hospitals within a reasonable proximity. In its request for an extension of the deadline, a hospital shall state why the hospital is unable to comply with the January 1, 2008, deadline requirement.
(3)Prior to granting an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to this section, the office shall do all of the following:
(A)Provide public notice of a hospitals request for an extension of the deadline. The notice, at a minimum, shall be posted on the offices Internet Web site, and shall include the facilitys name and identification number, the status of the request, and the beginning and ending dates of the comment period, and period. The notice shall advise the public of the opportunity to submit public comments pursuant to subparagraph (C). The office shall also provide notice of all requests for the deadline extension directly to interested parties upon request of the interested parties.
(B)Provide copies of extension requests to interested parties within 10 working days to allow interested parties to review and provide comment within the 45-day comment period. The copies shall include those records that are available to the public pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(C)Allow the public to submit written comments on the extension proposal for a period of not less than 45 days from the date of the public notice.
(b)(1)It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this subdivision, to facilitate the process of having more hospital buildings in substantial compliance with this chapter and to take nonconforming general acute care hospital inpatient buildings out of service more quickly.
(2)The functional contiguous grouping of hospital buildings of a general acute care hospital, each of which provides, as the primary source, one or more of the hospitals eight basic services as specified in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, may receive a five-year extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline specified in subdivision (a) of this section pursuant to this subdivision for both structural and nonstructural requirements. A functional contiguous grouping refers to buildings containing one or more basic hospital services that are either attached or connected in a way that is acceptable to the State Department of Health Care Services. These buildings may be either on the existing site or a new site.
(3)To receive the five-year extension, a single building containing all of the basic services or at least one building within the contiguous grouping of hospital buildings shall have obtained a building permit prior to 1973 and this building shall be evaluated and classified as a nonconforming, Structural Performance Category-1 (SPC-1) building. The classification shall be submitted to and accepted by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. The identified hospital building shall be exempt from the requirement in subdivision (a) until January 1, 2013, if the hospital agrees that the basic service or services that were provided in that building shall be provided, on or before January 1, 2013, as follows:
(A)Moved into an existing conforming Structural Performance Category-3 (SPC-3), Structural Performance Category-4 (SPC-4), or Structural Performance Category-5 (SPC-5) and Non-Structural Performance Category-4 (NPC-4) or Non-Structural Performance Category-5 (NPC-5) building.
(B)Relocated to a newly built compliant SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building.
(C)Continued in the building building, if the building is retrofitted to an SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building.
(4)A five-year extension is also provided to a post-1973 building if the hospital owner informs the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development that the building is classified as SPC-1, SPC-3, or SPC-4 and will be closed to general acute care inpatient service use by January 1, 2013. The basic services in the building shall be relocated into an SPC-5 and NPC-4 or NPC-5 building by January 1, 2013.
(5)SPC-1 buildings, other than the building identified in paragraph (3) or (4), in the contiguous grouping of hospital buildings shall also be exempt from the requirement in subdivision (a) until January 1, 2013. However, on or before January 1, 2013, at a minimum, each of these buildings shall be retrofitted to an SPC-2 and NPC-3 building, or no longer be used for general acute care hospital inpatient services.
(c)On or before March 1, 2001, the office shall establish a schedule of interim work progress deadlines that hospitals shall be required to meet to be eligible for the extension specified in subdivision (b). To receive this extension, the hospital building or buildings shall meet the year 2002 nonstructural requirements.
(d)A hospital building that is eligible for an extension pursuant to this section shall meet the January 1, 2030, nonstructural and structural deadline requirements if the building is to be used for general acute care inpatient services after January 1, 2030.
(e)Upon compliance with subdivision (b), the hospital shall be issued a written notice of compliance by the office. The office shall send a written notice of violation to hospital owners that fail to comply with this section. The office shall make copies a copy of these notices available on its Internet Web site.
(f)(1)A hospital that has received an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may request an additional extension of up to two years for a hospital building that it owns or operates and that meets the criteria specified in paragraph (2), (3), or (5).
(2)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for extension under this subdivision and the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b).
(B)The hospital building plans were submitted to the office and were deemed ready for review by the office at least four years prior to the applicable deadline for the building. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that will be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital received a building permit for the construction described in subparagraph (A) at least two years prior to the applicable deadline for the building.
(D)The hospital submitted a construction timeline at least two years prior to the applicable deadline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent to meet the applicable deadline. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D), but factors beyond the hospitals control make it impossible for the hospital to meet the deadline.
(3)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital building is owned by a health care district that has, as owner, received the extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline, but where the hospital is operated by an unaffiliated third-party lessee pursuant to a facility lease that extends at least through December 31, 2009. The district shall file a declaration with the office with a request for an extension stating that, as of the date of the filing, the district has lacked, and continues to lack, unrestricted access to the subject hospital building for seismic planning purposes during the term of the lease, and that the district is under contract with the county to maintain hospital services when the hospital comes under district control. The office shall not grant the extension if an unaffiliated third-party lessee will operate the hospital beyond December 31, 2010.
(B)The hospital building plans were submitted to the office and were deemed ready for review by the office at least four years prior to the applicable deadline for the building. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that will be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital received a building permit for the construction described in subparagraph (B) by December 31, 2011.
(D)The hospital submitted, by December 31, 2011, a construction timeline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent and ability to meet the deadline of December 31, 2014. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for the extension, the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), and the hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital granted an extension pursuant to this paragraph shall submit an additional status report to the office, equivalent to that required by subdivision (c) of Section 130061, no later than June 30, 2013.
(4)An extension granted pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be applicable only to the health care district applicant and its affiliated hospital while the hospital is operated by the district or an entity under the control of the district.
(5)The office may grant the additional extension if the hospital building subject to the extension meets all of the following criteria:
(A)The hospital owner submitted to the office, prior to June 30, 2009, a request for review using current computer modeling utilized by the office and based upon software developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), referred to as Hazards US, and the building was deemed SPC-1 after that review.
(B)The hospital building plans for the building are submitted to the office and deemed ready for review by the office prior to July 1, 2010. The hospital shall indicate, upon submission of its plans, the SPC-1 building or buildings that shall be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of this section as a result of the project.
(C)The hospital receives a building permit from the office for the construction described in subparagraph (B) prior to January 1, 2012.
(D)The hospital submits, prior to January 1, 2012, a construction timeline for the building demonstrating the hospitals intent and ability to meet the applicable deadline. The timeline shall include all of the following:
(i)The projected construction start date.
(ii)The projected construction completion date.
(iii)Identification of the contractor.
(E)The hospital building is under construction at the time of the request for the extension, the purpose of the construction is to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) to allow the use of the building as a general acute care hospital building after the extension deadline granted by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), and the hospital is making reasonable progress toward meeting the timeline set forth in subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital owner completes construction such that the hospital meets all criteria to enable the office to issue a certificate of occupancy by the applicable deadline for the building.
(6)A hospital located in the County of Sacramento, San Mateo, or Santa Barbara or the City of San Jose or the City of Willits that has received an additional extension pursuant to paragraph (2) or (5) may request an additional extension until September 1, 2015, to obtain either a certificate of occupancy from the office for a replacement building, or a construction final from the office for a building on which a retrofit has been performed.
(7)A hospital denied an extension pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
(8)The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this subdivision for any a hospital building where the work of construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at least one year, unless the hospital demonstrates in a public document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by factors beyond its control.
(g)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (f), and Sections 130061.5 and 130064, a hospital that has received an extension of the January 1, 2008, deadline pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) also may request an additional extension of up to seven years for a hospital building that it owns or operates. The office may grant the extension subject to the hospital meeting the milestones set forth in paragraph (2).
(2)The hospital building subject to the extension shall meet all of the following milestones, unless the hospital building is reclassified as SPC-2 or higher as a result of its Hazards US score:
(A)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, a letter of intent stating whether it intends to rebuild, replace, or retrofit the building, or remove all general acute care beds and services from the building, and the amount of time necessary to complete the construction.
(B)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, a schedule detailing why the requested extension is necessary, and specifically how the hospital intends to meet the requested deadline.
(C)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than September 30, 2012, an application ready for review seeking structural reassessment of each of its SPC-1 buildings using current computer modeling based upon software developed by FEMA, referred to as Hazards US.
(D)The hospital owner submits to the office, no later than January 1, 2015, plans ready for review consistent with the letter of intent submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) and the schedule submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(E)The hospital owner submits a financial report to the office at the time the plans are submitted pursuant to subparagraph (D). The report shall demonstrate the hospital owners financial capacity to implement the construction plans submitted pursuant to subparagraph (D).
(F)The hospital owner receives a building permit consistent with the letter of intent submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) and the schedule submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B), no later than July 1, 2018.
(3)To evaluate public safety and determine whether to grant an extension of the deadline, the office shall consider the structural integrity of the hospitals SPC-1 buildings based on its Hazards US scores, community access to essential hospital services, and the hospital owners financial capacity to meet the deadline as determined by either a bond rating of BBB or below or the financial report on the hospital owners financial capacity submitted pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2). The criteria contained in this paragraph shall be considered by the office in its determination of the length of an extension or whether an extension should be granted. granted and the length of the extension.
(4)The extension or subsequent adjustments granted pursuant to this subdivision may not exceed the amount of time that is reasonably necessary to complete the construction specified in paragraph (2).
(5)If the circumstances underlying the request for extension submitted to the office pursuant to paragraph (2) change, the hospital owner shall notify the office as soon as practicable, but in no event later than six months after the hospital owner discovered the change of circumstances. The office may adjust the length of the extension granted pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) as necessary, but in no event longer than the period specified in paragraph (1).
(6)A hospital denied an extension pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
(7)The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this subdivision for any a hospital building when it is determined that any information submitted pursuant to this section was falsified, or if the hospital failed to meet a milestone set forth in paragraph (2), or where the work of construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at least six months, unless the hospital demonstrates in a publicly available document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by factors beyond its control.
(8)Regulatory submissions made by the office to the California Building Standards Commission to implement this section shall be deemed to be emergency regulations and shall be adopted as emergency regulations.
(9)The hospital owner that applies for an extension pursuant to this subdivision shall pay the office an additional fee, to be determined by the office, sufficient to cover the additional reasonable costs incurred by the office for maintaining the additional reporting requirements established under this section, including, but not limited to, the costs of reviewing and verifying the extension documentation submitted pursuant to this subdivision. This additional fee shall not include any cost for review of the plans or other duties related to receiving a building or occupancy permit.
(10)This subdivision shall become operative on the date that the State Department of Health Care Services receives all necessary federal approvals for a 201112 fiscal year hospital quality assurance fee program that includes three hundred twenty million dollars ($320,000,000) in fee revenue to pay for health care coverage for children, which is made available as a result of the legislative enactment of a 201112 fiscal year hospital quality assurance fee program.
(h)A critical access hospital located in the City of Tehachapi may submit a seismic safety extension application pursuant to subdivision (g), notwithstanding deadlines in that subdivision that are earlier than the effective date of the act that added this subdivision. The submitted application shall include a timetable as required pursuant to subdivision (g).
(i)(1)A hospital located in the Tarzana neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles that has received extensions pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (g) may request an additional extension for a single building until October 1, 2022, in order to obtain a certificate of occupancy from the office for a replacement building.
(2)The hospital owner seeking the extension shall submit a written request that includes a timeline specifying how the hospital intends to meet the new deadline, including the construction document submission dates. The following timeline shall be met for construction document submissions:
(A)No later than January 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the second increment with information including the building core and shell of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by January 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(B)No later than March 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the first increment with information including the structural foundation, frame, and underslab utilities of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by March 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(C)No later than September 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the third increment with information on the build-out of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by September 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(D)No later than November 1, 2018, the hospital owner shall submit construction documents, deemed ready for review, related to the first final review of the fourth increment with information on the seismic support and anchorage of the hospital. Failure to submit the construction documents by November 1, 2018, shall result in the assessment of a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar day until the documents are submitted.
(E)The hospital owner may submit a written request to the office seeking an extension of the deadlines set forth in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D). The written request shall state with specificity the reason for the request and how the reason preventing compliance with the deadlines was outside of the control of the hospital owner. After review of the request for extension, the office may grant the request for a period of time not to exceed 30 calendar days. If the office grants the request for an extension, no fine shall accrue or be imposed during the extension period.
(3)Notwithstanding any other law, any fines assessed pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be deposited into the General Fund following a determination on appeal, if any. A hospital assessed a fine pursuant to this subdivision may appeal the assessment to the Hospital Building Safety Board, provided the hospital posts the funds for any fines to be held by the office pending the resolution of the appeal.
(4)The office shall not issue a certificate of occupancy for the single replacement building until such time as all assessed fines accrued pursuant to paragraph (2) have been paid in full, or, if an appeal is pending, have been posted subject to resolution of an appeal. Fines deposited by the hospital pursuant to paragraph (3) shall be considered paid in full for purposes of issuing a certificate of occupancy pursuant to this paragraph. This paragraph is in addition to, and is not intended to supersede, any other requirements that must be met by the hospital for issuance by the office of a certificate of occupancy.
|
Date
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Status
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|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2018 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Held without recommendation. |
| Mar 21, 2018 | Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. |
| Mar 20, 2018 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended. |
| Mar 19, 2018 | Referred to Com. on HEALTH. |
| Feb 16, 2018 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 18. |
| Feb 15, 2018 | Read first time. To print. |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| California Nurses Association | * Support | Apr 17, 2018 |
| City Of Long Beach | * Support | Apr 17, 2018 |
| Community Hospital | * Support | Apr 17, 2018 |
| County Of Los Angeles | ** Support | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors | * Support | Apr 17, 2018 |
| National Nurses United | ** Support | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Numerous individuals | ** Support | Apr 13, 2018 |
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2018.
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Jim Wood, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2591
Author:(O'Donnell) – As Amended Ver:March 20, 2018
SUBJECT: Acute care hospitals: seismic extentions: safety: City of Long Beach.
SUMMARY: Permits a hospital owned by the City of Long Beach to request an additional seismic safety extension before January 1, 2025, of the seismic safety requirement that hospital buildings be rebuilt or retrofitted in order to be capable of withstanding an earthquake.
EXISTING LAW:
- Establishes the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 (Alquist Act), to ensure that hospital buildings are designed and constructed to resist the forces generated by earthquakes and requires the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to propose building standards for earthquake resistance and to provide independent review of the design and construction of hospital buildings.
- Establishes timelines for hospital compliance with seismic safety standards, including a requirement that buildings posing a significant risk of collapse and a danger to the public (referred to as Structural Performance Category 1 or SPC-1 buildings) be rebuilt or retrofitted to be capable of withstanding an earthquake, or removed from acute care service, by January 1, 2008, and a requirement that hospital buildings be capable of remaining intact after an earthquake, and capable of continued operation by January 1, 2030.
- Permits OSHPD to grant an extension of up to five years from the 2008 deadline, which would be January 1, 2013, for hospitals for which compliance will result in a loss of health care capacity, as defined. Allows OSHPD to grant various further extensions beyond this, including up to seven years, or until January 1, 2020, in part based on the loss of essential hospital services to the community if the hospital closed, and financial hardship.
- Permits a hospital to continue operating under a deadline extension if either of the following occurs before the end of the extension:
- A replacement building has been constructed and a certificate of occupancy has been granted by OSHPD for the replacement building; or,
- A retrofit has been performed on the building and a construction final has been obtained by OSHPD.
- A replacement building has been constructed and a certificate of occupancy has been granted by OSHPD for the replacement building; or,
- Permits OSHPD to revoke an extension for any hospital building when it is determined that any information submitted was falsified, or if the hospital failed to meet a milestone, or where the work of construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at least six months.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
COMMENTS:
- PURPOSE OF THIS BILL. According to the author, the Community Hospital of Long Beach (CHLB) is the only full-service emergency room on the east side of Long Beach. The author states that closure of this hospital will result in a diminished capacity of essential healthcare services to the community and this bill seeks to extend the seismic compliance deadline for the hospital in order to preserve the public health and safety of patients, residents and the local community. The author concludes that this will enable all hospital operations, including the eight basic services and psychiatric care, to continue while a long-term solution for seismic compliance is identified and implemented.
- BACKGROUND.
- Hospital seismic requirements. Following the 1971 San Fernando Valley earthquake, California enacted the Alquist Act, which mandated that all new hospital construction meet stringent seismic safety standards. In 1994, after the Northridge earthquake, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1953 (Alquist), Chapter 740, Statutes of 1994, which required OSHPD to establish earthquake performance categories for hospitals, and established a January 1, 2008, deadline by which general acute care hospitals must be retrofitted or replaced so that they do not pose a risk of collapse in the event of an earthquake; and a January 1, 2030, deadline by which they must be capable of remaining operational following an earthquake. Subsequent legislation allowed most hospitals to qualify for an extension of the January 1, 2008 deadline to January 1, 2013.
OSHPD categorizes hospitals into five SPCs. SPC-1 is the category of buildings at most risk of collapse in an earthquake, and it is these hospitals that were originally required to be taken out of service or retrofitted by January 1, 2008, which has since been extended for some hospitals to January 1, 2020. Buildings in SPC-2, 3, 4, and 5 are generally categorized based on when they were built and the building code regulations in effect at that time. Hospital buildings in any of these categories may be used up until January 1, 2030, at which time hospitals must either meet SPC-5 requirements, or under recently adopted regulations, the new category of SPC-4D. SPC-5 generally requires new construction for any building constructed before 1989, while SPC-4D allows for some older buildings to be retrofitted and still be compliant with January 1, 2030 standards.
In addition to the original five-year extension to January 1, 2013, the Legislature has passed additional bills allowing hospitals to extend the deadlines for retrofitting SPC 1 buildings beyond the 2013 deadline. SB 306 (Ducheny), Chapter 642, Statutes of 2007, permitted a hospital owner to comply with seismic safety deadlines and requirements in current law by replacing all of its buildings subject to seismic retrofit by January 1, 2020, rather than retrofitting by 2013 and replacing them by 2030, if the hospital meets several conditions and OSHPD certifies that the hospital owner lacks the financial capacity to meet seismic standards, as defined. SB 90 (Steinberg), Chapter 19, Statutes of 2011, allowed a hospital to seek an extension for seismic compliance for its SPC-1 buildings of up to seven years (no later than January 1, 2020) based on the following elements: the structural integrity of the building, the loss of essential hospital services to the community if the hospital closed, and financial hardship. - CHLB. CHLB is a 158 bed licensed acute and psychiatric care hospital. The City of Long Beach owns the land at CHLB, while a private provider, MemorialCare currently leases the buildings and provides hospital services. MemorialCare has been the operator of CHLB since 2011. In November 2017, MemorialCare indicated it plans to cease acute and psychiatric care services at the hospital as a method of compliance with OSHPD’s January 1, 2020 deadline, citing findings from a seismic study which detailed a wide, active fault zone under the hospital campus, and on March 5, 2018, MemorialCare sent a 120-day lease termination notice to the City.
CHLBs' license is set to expire on April 28, 2018. In a letter dated February 16, 2018, the City of Long Beach formally requested MemorialCare to renew its license for the period of April 29, 2018 to April 28, 2019. The license has not been renewed to date. MemorialCare is on schedule to end hospital services at CHLB on July 3rd. However, should MemorialCare not renew its license, then services could predictably end much sooner.
There are 9 SPC-1 buildings at CHLB with an extension to July 1, 2019. There are no submitted plans to retrofit, rebuild, remove, or replace any of these buildings at CHLB.
- Hospital seismic requirements. Following the 1971 San Fernando Valley earthquake, California enacted the Alquist Act, which mandated that all new hospital construction meet stringent seismic safety standards. In 1994, after the Northridge earthquake, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1953 (Alquist), Chapter 740, Statutes of 1994, which required OSHPD to establish earthquake performance categories for hospitals, and established a January 1, 2008, deadline by which general acute care hospitals must be retrofitted or replaced so that they do not pose a risk of collapse in the event of an earthquake; and a January 1, 2030, deadline by which they must be capable of remaining operational following an earthquake. Subsequent legislation allowed most hospitals to qualify for an extension of the January 1, 2008 deadline to January 1, 2013.
- SUPPORT. The City of Long Beach is the sponsor of this bill and states that the facility is a valued component of the City's urban and suburban fabric. The City notes that it is highly interested in identifying a viable solution that allows them to maintain co-located acute and psychiatric care facility in Long Beach while also meeting state seismic requirements for hospitals. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA) supports this bill stating that without CHLB, local patients will be left living in a healthcare desert. CNA contends that they cannot emphasize enough the vital role the facility plays for emergency, acute, and behavioral healthcare in the community.
- RELATED LEGISLATION. AB 2190 (Reyes) requires OSHPD to provide a 30-day notice to the hospital prior to revoking a seismic extension, and to provide the hospital with the opportunity to provide evidence and information to challenge the revocation. AB 2190 is pending a hearing in Assembly Health Committee.
- PREVIOUS LEGISLATION.
- AB 908 (Dababneh), Chapter 350, Statutes of 2017, authorizes Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles to request an additional extension, until October 1, 2022, of the seismic safety requirement that hospital buildings must be rebuilt or retrofitted in order to be capable of withstanding an earthquake.
- AB 81 (Wood), Chapter 63, Statutes of 2015, permitted a hospital in the City of Willits to request an eight-month deadline extension of a seismic safety requirement that hospitals be rebuilt or retrofitted to be capable of withstanding an earthquake, which it is currently required to meet by January 1, 2015, so that this hospital could have until September 1, 2015, to meet this seismic safety requirement.
- AB 2557 (Pan), Chapter 821, Statutes of 2014, permitted a hospital located in the Counties of Sacramento, San Mateo, or Santa Barbara or the City of San Jose, that had received an additional extension of the January 1, 2008, seismic safety requirements under specified provisions of existing law to January 1, 2015, to request an additional extension until September 1, 2015, in order to obtain either a certificate of occupancy or a construction final from the OSHPD.
- SB 90 (Steinberg), Chapter 19, Statutes of 2011, allowed a hospital to seek an extension for seismic compliance for its SPC-1 buildings of up to seven years based on the following elements: the structural integrity of the building, the loss of essential hospital services to the community if the hospital closed, and financial hardship.
- SB 499 (Ducheny), Chapter 601, Statutes of 2009, required all general acute care hospitals that have SPC-1 buildings to report to OSHPD by November 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, on the status of their compliance with the seismic safety deadlines.
- SB 306 (Ducheny), Chapter 642, Statutes of 2007, amended the Alquist Act to permit hospitals to delay compliance with the July 1, 2008 seismic retro deadline, and the 2013 extension, to the year 2020, by filing a declaration with OSHPD that the owner lacks financial capacity to comply with the law.
- SB 1661 (Cox), Chapter 679, Statutes of 2006, authorized an extension of up to an additional two years for hospitals that had already received extensions of the January 1, 2008 seismic safety compliance deadline if specified criteria were met, and required specified hospital reports to be posted on the OSHPD Web site.
- POLICY COMMENTS.
- As currently drafted it is unclear if the intent of this bill is: i) to allow CHLB to request an extension of the seismic requirements before January 1, 2025, which conceivably could mean the hospital could remain open, and out of seismic compliance for as long as 12 years; or, ii) if the intent was to allow a seismic safety compliance extension until January 1, 2025, or a seven year extension. In either case, the Committee may wish to consider whether or not this is too long for a hospital at the highest level of risk of collapse to remain open.
- It is unclear whether or not the sponsors of the bill will be able to find a new operator for CHLB before the license expires on April 24, 2017. There are no seismic plans in place and the current operator, MemorialCare has provided data showing the considerable challenges associated with continuing to operate a hospital at this location.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
City of Long Beach (sponsor)
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
County of Los Angeles
Numerous individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):