CMH pediatric unit nears end; hospital teams with county for kids care
Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura will pay the county about $275,000 for a year in a partnership tied to the imminent closure of the private hospital’s in-patient pediatric unit.
Hospital officials last month announced the Oct. 1 shutdown of the eight-bed unit that started more than 25 years ago. They cited low patient numbers and revealed a collaboration with the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura to provide pediatric care for both hospitals.
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a contract that provides more details on the partnership. Community Memorial Healthcare will pay the county $750 a day for providing on-call care for children at Community Memorial’s emergency room.
The money will cover the salary of a hospital-based pediatrician from Community Memorial who will work for the county as part of a three-pediatrician team that will cover care generated by both hospitals, said Dr. John Fankhauser, CEO for Ventura County Medical Center.
The contract covers one year but can be extended for two additional years.
Beginning Oct. 1, Community Memorial will no longer admit patients and will transfer children in the emergency room who need inpatient care to other hospitals with most of them headed to VCMC.
The move leaves VCMC as the only hospital with an inpatient pediatric care unit in west Ventura County. Doctors on a Community Memorial pediatric committee sent an August letter of protest to the private nonprofit hospital's leaders, expressing concern the move would frustrate and confuse families.
Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura to close inpatient pediatric unit due to empty beds
CMH leaders were not available on Tuesday but said in August low census at the hospital’s pediatric unit meant at least six of eight beds were empty most days. They said the vast majority of children who come to the emergency room need outpatient care.
The partnership with a county is a better use of resources, said Mick Zdeblick, Community Memorial's CEO. It should improve pediatric care, in part by attracting pediatric specialists who could come to the area and see patients generated by the outpatient clinics associated with both health systems.
Zdeblick emphasized other care for children, including labor and delivery, neonatal intensive care and outpatient treatment will continue.
Ventura County Medical is building a new 16-bed pediatric care unit funded by a $15 million state grant and set to open in January. The hospital also runs the only pediatric intensive care unit in the county.
The high level of care, along with an already existing affiliation to specialists from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, should mean fewer children will have to go outside of Ventura County for care, county hospital leaders said. They also cited other examples of collaboration between the hospitals, including sending county patients who need cardiac surgery to Community Memorial.
Dr. Samuel Phang, who has worked in the county hospital’s pediatric unit for eight years, praised the collaboration with Community Memorial in a letter to the Board of Supervisors. Phang also called for adequate staffing of nurses, office assistants, dietitians, social workers and others in the county unit.
“Please direct hospital administration to improve recruitment and retention of staff, and to allocate appropriate resources to do so,” he wrote.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Community Memorial partners with county as pediatric unit nears end
