Palomar Hospital Expansion

League of Women Voters^®
of Escondido

The major public controversy involves the secrecy in which this public agency is developing the plan to use the $496 million bond monies for hospital expansion.

Secrecy on Planning for Hospital Expansion. Detail Stories. Opinion.

Secrecy on Planning for Hospital Expansion

The Palomar Pomerado Health District was formed in 1984 as a public hospital district. In 2001, the name was changed to Palomar Pomerado Health. PPH is the largest healthcare district in the state, serving communities in an 800 square mile area and a trauma center that covers 1,440 square miles of South Riverside and North San Diego Counties. The District is managed by a Board of Directors which is elected by voters, and primarily operates to full service hospitals: Palomar Hospital in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway. In addition, PPH offers home health care, surgery, skilled nursing, ambulatory care, behavioral health services, wound care, and community health education programs.
In 2004, the largest local bond measure in the history of California was passed by voters in the District, authorizing $496 million for hospital expansion. In the aftermath of this funding, the District announced plans to build an entirely new hospital facility in an industrial park area located in west Escondido to be opened in 2011. The new facility will be named Palomar Medical Center West. The current downtown hospital will be converted to specialty inpatient, outpatient and wellness services. Other bond funds will be used for the expansion of Pomerado Hospital in Poway; and the development of outpatient satellite health centers in convenient locations throughout the 800-square-mile district.
The major public controversy involving PPH involves the secrecy in which this public agency is operating, particularly with respect to expenditures of both bond monies and general operating costs. The public details of the expansion plans have been sketchy and there appears to be minimal board oversight of the progress and expenses. Much of the concern lies with the fact that PPH operates much more like a major private corporation than like a public agency. The CEO, Michael Covert is paid over $450,000 per year. And just recently, PPH was forced to reveal that it was paying a professional football player $2 million for purely promotional reasons. More recently, there is concern that PPH will not follow through on plans to upgrade the downtown medical center due to cost overrides in constructing the new facility.

Detail Stories

Apr 2008 City Panel approves PPH's plans for office building's renovation - North County Times
Apr 2008 Palomar Pomerado pours concrete for new hospital - North County Times
Mar 2008 Michael Covert gets $142,000 bonus - Union Tribute
Feb 2008 New Escondido panel to tackle PPH projects - North County Times
Dec 2007 Construction of Palomar Pomerado hospital begins - North County Times
Dec 2007 PPH official seeks to reassure downtown business leaders - North County Times
Sep 2007 PPH considering new financial assistance policies - North County Times
Aug 2007 Palomar board releases copies of contract with football player - North County Times
Aug 2007 Charger's deal with district detailed - Union Tribune
Aug 2007 PPH preparing to buy second Valley Boulevard property - North County Times
Jun 2007 PPH board approves $418.7M budget for coming year - North County Times
Jun 2007 PPH reaches deal to buy Grandesco Building - North County Times
Jun 2007 Proposed Escondido hospital taking shape - North County Times
May 2007 Host of factors cost possible delay of PPH expansion - North County Times
May 2007 PPH board asked to delay parts of district's expansion - North County Times
May 2007 Hospital officials show off new Pomerado buildings - North County Times
Feb 2007 PPH to continue purchase talks for industrial park building - North County Times
Feb 2007 Palomar Pomerado reviews latest medical center designs - North County Times

Opinion

Mar 2008 Criticism of PPH is off base - North County Times
Feb 2008 PPH should get out of hospital business - North County Times
Feb 2008 Concern about Upgrading Downtown Medical Center - North County Times
Aug 2007 Hopsital district fumbled on Charger play - Union Tribune

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