Los Robles forced to keep new wing's doors closed
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

A 200,000squarefoot, $180million new wing at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center sits empty of patients due to a delay by the State Department of Health to come and give its required stamp of approval.

" W e don't know when they are coming to survey us," said Kris Carraway Bowman, Los Robles Hospital spokesperson.

Until they do, even the Aug. 7 ribboncutting ceremony to celebrate the new wing's opening doesn't begin to cut through the red tape required by California.

In fact, for that ceremony, attended by city officials of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills, a flag that flew over the state's capital was supposed to be mailed to the hospital from Sacramento. But it didn't make it on time because the state budget hadn't been passed and there was no postage to send it, according to Carraway-Bowman.

"I offered to send them stamps, but somehow they found a way to mail it to us," she said.

The delay in passing the state budget caused a backup at the department that approves hospitals, said Carraway-Bowman, and the 90 new rooms remain empty.

The state budget was supposed to be ratified by July 1 but wasn't signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarz enegger until Aug. 24. "The delayed state budget affected us like any other state agency. Some things do have to be delayed," California Department of Public Health Spokesperson Ken August said.

"We've been able to move in the non-clinical items, the medical records," Carraway-Bowman said.

But not patients who'd like to have a nice new room in what hospital CEO Jim Sherman described as "The Four Seasons of hospitals."

"We're all ready to go. We just need the approval. This is frustrating for everyone," Sherman said. "It's a shame."

The hospital had intended in July to hasten its opening up a month to August to coincide with the temporary closure of St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. St. John's was clearing up a mold situation.

"It turned out we weren't impacted at all by St. John's patients," Carraway-Bowman said.

Patients went to other nearby hospitals, and those who were getting elective surgeries postponed them, she said.

"We're not turning away patients," Carraway-Bowman said. "It's just that we have a building just standing there."

The concept for the new wing began seven years ago. Groundbreaking took place July 28, 2004, and construction began in November 2004.

When patients and medical service areas are permitted to move into the new wing, renovation of the rest of the hospital will begin. The goal is to match the older side of the hospital with the new area and make the two appear seamless to the public, Sherman said.