Debate continues over local hospital situation
By Michael Picarella
and John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writers

The death of a Westlake Village man who died from a recent traffic accident has stoked more debate over whether Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks is sufficient to handle urgent emergencies and whether a trauma care facility should return to Westlake Village to help ease those concerns. And some residents claim the area needs another hospital, with or without an emergency room.

The victim of the car wreck was taken to the USC Medical Center. Normally UCLA Medical Center is the designated trauma center for this area, but it was foggy and unsafe for helicopters. A recent letter to the editor in The Acorn questioned if the man would have survived the accident if he had been treated at Los Robles.

But Los Robles isn’t a designated trauma center.

For years, some residents of Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Thousand Oaks have wanted another hospital. Many also want a certified trauma center, which is nonexistent in Ventura County.

City and elected officials in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks are promoting another hospital for Westlake Village and seem to have public backing. Some have said the issue arose merely for reelection purposes because it’s such an emotional issue with the people.

A second hospital for the area hasn’t proven to be profitable, reducing the likelihood that a major medical corporation will enter the picture. But that doesn’t dim the noise of proponents.

Westlake Village resident Selma Polesch said she had a bad experience at Los Robles due to overcrowding and would like to see a new facility in the area.

Los Robles serves, Polesch said, an enormous area. Despite evidence to the contrary, a new hospital would be profitable, she said, thanks to a population increase.

The latest census figures show California with an additional 4 million more people in the last 10 years, which help make the West the fastest growing region in the country. Figures also show that since 1990, Westlake Village grew by 12.2 percent, Calabasas has seen an 8.1 percent increase, Agoura Hills expanded by 0.7 percent and Thousand Oaks experienced a 12.1 percent increase.

Still, others have said a new hospital wouldn’t turn a profit.

Westlake Village resident Alan Horwitz said he’s been passionate about trying to get a new hospital for many years, but is almost at the point of giving up. He said he’s spoken with many hospital CEOs and said no one is willing to put up $60 million for a new facility.

Horwitz’s wife, Jo Ann, said the issue really is a trauma center. Westlake Medical Center for about one year was a member of the L.A. County trauma system. Westlake Village City Councilwoman and public relations director for Los Robles Kris Carraway-Bowman said Westlake Medical Center entered into the Los Angeles trauma system in 1993, but dropped out a year later because it wasn’t cost effective.

To be a part of the county’s trauma system, a fee of $60,000 is required, plus the salaries of surgeons, specialists, qualified staff and anesthesiologists in the facility 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

According to Barry Fisher, administrator of Ventura County Emergency Medical Services, Ventura County has no trauma centers. The county, he said, is currently in the process of assessing whether or not it can justify the expense of having its own trauma center.

Ryan Burgess, pre-hospital care coordinator of the UCLA Emergency Department said if there were to be a new hospital in Westlake Village, it probably wouldn’t often utilize trauma techniques. It’s highly unlikely that trauma services could be justified here, Burgess said, because the system demands frequent use.

Life-threatening trauma cases in the Agoura Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village, Oak Park and Calabasas areas are flown by medivac helicopters to UCLA or driven to Northridge, Burgess said, based on the geography of the accident. Travel times, he said, are minimal.

In L.A. County, there are 13 authorized trauma hospitals. The county system determines its needs by a projected volume of patients. Sufficient levels aren’t present in this area and therefore 24-hour services wouldn’t be used enough, sources said. It’s unlikely this area will get a trauma center any time soon, according to Burgess.

Trauma facilities must follow established regulations. It doesn’t mean Los Robles can’t handle emergencies. It just isn’t part of a trauma system.

"Every single ER (emergency room) has ER-trained and trauma-tested nurses and doctors," Carraway-Bowman said. "In fact, we have a closer working relationship, now that Westlake (Medical Center) is closed, with L.A. County Fire and L.A. County Sheriff. There’s times that instead of flying them into the Valley, they fly them here."

Los Robles has also gone further than other Ventura County hospitals by carrying an EDAP (Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics) rating. Even though Los Robles is in Ventura County, it qualified through the L.A. County process to earn the rating. The EDAP designation indicates that the medical center possesses the appropriate equipment and trained staff to care for pediatric emergencies (14 years or younger) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"That’s very admirable," Burgess said.

It’s uncertain whether a new hospital will be built. "Our county is pretty well covered with emergency resources," said Fisher.

Jo Ann Horwitz said she’s concerned about long distances involving life and death situations, especially after the recent traffic accident fatality.

Officials in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks are presently gathering interested parties to encourage medical corporations to bring back another facility.

Meanwhile, Los Robles is adding 10 new beds to its existing intensive care unit. The $5.6 million upgrade currently underway is expected to be finished in the spring.

It will also expand with a new wing of four stories, totaling 236,000 square feet. It will include 180 private patient rooms, according to Los Robles CEO Robert Shaw. The hospital is on Janss Road east of Lynn Road in T.O.

See related story on page 9.