Project manager pitches new hospital

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press October 11, 2000

By ALYSON MARTIN
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Palmdale is the largest community in California without a hospital, Michael Adams told the Greater Antelope Valley Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

While the city is doing its best to change that fact, it's going to need some help from the development group aiming to build the new facility, said Adams, project manager for a proposed Palmdale hospital.

At a Sept. 26 meeting, the City Council authorized city staff to continue negotiations with Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a Los Angeles-based hospital development group, Adams said. Since the search for a developer began shortly after Desert Palms Community Hospital closed in March 1996, Prospect Medical is the only group that has committed to a time line for development of a hospital in Palmdale.

The city is negotiating for a 20acre parcel of land at Palmdale Boulevard and Fifth Street West that might become the future site of a 65-bed hospital, senior housing project, medical professional office buildings and other ancillary services.

To close escrow, the council directed the Prospect Medical development group to provide the city with a satisfactory business plan, updated financial information and proof of administrative experience in operating a hospital among its senior people.

The deadline for Prospect Medical to submit the information is mid-February 2001, allowing the city time to go over the material and close escrow by April 2001.

If Prospect Medical submits the necessary information and escrow closes, a five-year time line for development of the hospital would begin, Adams said.

That time line includes multiple reviews; planning and designing the facility; obtaining approval from OSHPD, the state architect's office; awarding the construction bid; and building the hospital.

The city is offering Prospect Medical plenty of assistance, Adams said. In addition to providing the land for the project, the city is responsible for infrastructure development to make the site usable and for the senior housing component of the complex. It also will waive impact fees and will assist in paying additional county and water district fees.

"The city is basically promising anywhere between $5 million and $6 million," said Adams, with $4.5 million to $5 million of that going toward the hospital.

The city money will come from existing economic development funds, Adams said.

"(The money) has been approved in the city budget and ... is there and ready for whoever needs it."

There also is a repayment provision in the city's agreement with Prospect Medical. Because the proposed site is in a redevelopment project area, the city will receive money once the hospital is built, Adams said.

For a $60 million hospital, that means $600,000 in additional revenue annually for the city. That will allow the city to be repaid for its initial investment in eight or nine years, he said.