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State Agency Docs Show LB's State Legislators Told Governor Community Hospital Was Ready To Reopen (When It Wasn't) And Sought Share Of COVID-19 Emergency Funds To Ensure Enough Capital To Pay LLC's Employees/Provide Services (Unexplained To Partially Reopen A Fraction Of Hospital's Capacity)
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State Agency Docs Show LB's State Legislators Told Governor Community Hospital Was Ready To Reopen (When It Wasn't) And Sought Share Of COVID-19 Emergency Funds To Ensure Enough Capital To Pay LLC's Employees/Provide Services (Unexplained To Partially Reopen A Fraction Of Hospital's Capacity)
A month later, LB City Council advanced LLC/operator $250,000 for repairs LLC/operator was req'd under its lease with City to pay for
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(Jan. 1, 2021, 10:50 p.m.) -- LBREPORT.com cites below documents related to Community Hospital, obtained by us under the CA Public Records Act from the CA Dept,. of Public Health.
Among other things they show LB's two state Senators and a LB Assemblyman made representations to Governor Newsom about the facility's ability to reopen in March 2020 that weren't true and simltaneously asked the Governor to allocate a share of COVID-19 emergency funding to ensure the for-profit operator has (in their words) enough capital to pay its employees and provide critical services (although the operator only sought initially to reopen a fraction of the hospital's capacity.)
The state lawmakers' request came barely 48 hours after the state legislature enacted SB 89, making available $1 billion in state taxpayer funds for COVID-19 related matters. Governor Newsom and personnel in his administration are in charge of allocating those funds.
The state legislators' request is arguably peculiar in seeking SB 89's funds to ensure capital to pay the LLC operator's employees and provide services when the LLC/operator was already presumably preparing to reopen (if granted a CDPH license) prior to the March 2020 COVID-19 surge without an additional infusion of state taxpayer dollars.
Community Hospital's LLC operator said the facility would reopen on March 21, 2020 which it didn't do. It'a not clear if Governor Newsom or his administration allocated a portion of SB 89 funds to Community Hospital's operator at that time or thereafter..
On April 14, 2020, Community Hospital's LLC operator turned to the City of Long Beach for funds. It received City Council approval (9-0) for an advance of $250,000 enabling a city crew to make repairs (agendizing memo text) "including but not limited to" the hospital's elevators.
The agendizing memo acknowledged that the LLC operator was required to pay for such items under its Oct. 2019 lease with the City. The Council approved the quarter million dollar advance offered by Councilman Daryl Supernaw from his budgeted district discretionary funds (effectively citywide taxpayer dollars) with no guarantee of reimbursement to LB taxpayers by the LLC/operator. (Pacific6 spokesman Brandon Dowling has told LBREPORT.com that "The $250,000 in elevator repairs were paid by the City of Long Beach and invoiced to the City of Long Beach. No money was ever 'given’ to MWN and we were never invoiced for the services.") The extent and types of repairs performed and their costs haven't been independently confirmed at this point by LBREPORT.com.
The documents obtained from CDPH under the Public Records Act, combined with other public actions cited below, speak for themselves.
[Scroll down for further.]
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March 16 the state Senate and Assembly pass SB 89 as an emergency measiure.
March 17: Governor Newsom signs SB 89 into law
March 18, 2020: John Molina (on the letterhead of Pacific6) emails CDPH's Cassie Dunham (CDPH Chief of Field Operations) thanking her for help in expediting reopening of Community Hospital in Long Beach. Mr. Molina attaches an official request to reopen the hsopital [attachment missing from PRA-released documents.]
Sponsor
Sponsor
March 18, state Senator Lena Gonzalez (D, LB-SE LA County), state Senator Tom Umberg (D, SE LB-WEst OC) and Assemblyman Patriuck O'Donnell (D, LB-SP) send a jointly signed letter to Governor Newsom representing that Communigty Hospital of Long Beach is ready to reopen and urged the Governor to allocate a share of SB 89 funds to Community Hospital to "ensure there is enough capital to pay employees and provide critical services." Their letter tells the Governor that Community Hospital "is ready to immediately open the hospital to provide urgent care and serve those who need to be isolated and quarantined." Their letter urges allocation of emergency state funding authorized by SB 89 to Community Hospital.
Sponsor
Sponsor
March 19, Senator Gonzalez's Chief of Staff Cynthia Alvarez emaila multiple recipients (including CDPH):
We just got word from John Molina, operator of Community Hospital of Long Beach, that the Governor’s office has asked him to be ready to reopen the hospital on Saturday to take CoVid19 patients transferred from other hospitals. Operators are also moving very rapidly to reopen the Emergency Room and the rest of the hospital.
Attached is the letter from Senator Gonzalez, Senator Umberg and Assemblyman O’Donnell thanking the administration and state agencies for their expedited efforts to reopen the Hospital and to urge the Governor to use emergency funding to assist with the recent reopening. The Hospital will need additional resources and financing to mobilize their operations and provide staff.
Please let me know how our office can be helpful and how we can coordinate to ensure funds can be allocated. Although, we do not have a specific dollar amount at the moment, we would be more than happy to engage in conversations with stakeholders to come up with an appropriate amount.
Please keep this letter internal as a formal announcement of the re-opening will happen later today or tomorrow.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information from me. Again, thank you for all your help and support. We truly appreciate it.
Sponsor
Sponsor
March 19, 2020: MWN issues a media release indicating it will reopen and "start accepting patients on Saturday March 21." It states the reopening is "for the specific purpose of accepting transfer patients...In response to the urgent need for medical resources and staff caused by the COVID-19 epidemic...During this initial opening phase, the hospital will not be operating an emergency room and will not be accepting walk-in patients."
"I want to thank Governor Newsom, our state officials, the California Department of Public Health, and the City of Long Beach for their decisive efforts in the swift reopening of Community Hospital," said John Molina, Partner at MWN..."
Community Hospital will begin to accept transfer patients from other area hospitals beginning Saturday morning. Opening CHLB will bring an additional 158 hospital beds to the region, including 10 intensive care beds (ICU) and 10 ventilators.
"I want to thank the region’s local, state, and federal leaders, and the Governor’s office for mobilizing the California Department of Public Health to expedite the licensure and reopening of Community Hospital of Long Beach during this public health emergency," said State Senator Lena Gonzalez. "In addition, I want to urge Governor Newsom to support this effort with much needed emergency funds."
Sponsor
March 21, 2020: Community Hospital doesn't reopen. Pacific6 spokesman Dowling tells LBREPORT.com in the 9 p.m. hour March 21 email: "Right now, we are working around the clock to finalize the arrival of patients from local hospitals and to ensure that we have the necessary staffing, equipment and medical supplies to guarantee their safety and care. We did not be accept patients today, however we expect to start accepting transfer patients in the coming days. We're working with the State, specifically CDPH, on the necessary licensures for the hospital..."
March 22, 2020, 6:45 p.m. Sophia Kwong Kim, Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell sends the following email to multiple recipients, including CDPH staffer Cassie Dunham:
Hi Cassie and Monica::
Community Hospital of Long Beach (CHLB) is in both Senator Lena Gonzalez and Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell’s districts and also serves constituents of Assembly Speaker Rendon and Senator Umberg. Earlier in the week, we were optimistic that CHLB will be able to expedite its opening, even at limited terms, to assist amidst the COVID-19 crisis. We thank CDPH and OSHPD for helping with
approval of licensure.
All along, MWN has made it clear that while it will do all it can to open as soon as possible, it needs secured funds to operate. Messages from the OES, the Governor’s press messages, and press articles have all identified CHLB as being part of the plan to take on COVID-19 patients.
As you all know, the hospital was not able to open yesterday. With Long Beach having one of the highest number of positive cases in LA County and LA County’s ICUs at near capacity, CHLB can provide 158 beds immediately with financial assistance.
Can you share with us the state’s plans to help CHLB open and operate? We understand the pressure you are all experiencing and thank you again for all you are all doing.
March 30, 2020, 6 p.m. hour In CADPH internal email between multiple CDPH staffers, Jacqueline Lincer, Chief of CDPH's Field Operfaions Branch Region VI, writes in part:
Just spoke to [LBREPORT.com redacts name] concerning the patients to be served at LBCH. [She] confirmed the
response with John Molina. The hospital does not plan to limit only to COVID -19 patients. Their plan is to start with M/S type patients in the ICU unit (11 beds) then bring on one M/S unit (22 beds) and another in the future. If one of the patients admitted becomes COVID-19 they plan to keep the patients and provide care. They are also working on opening the ER and contracting with an ER group of physicians to provide service. We will be doing an onsite visit tomorrow at 9 am to review their readiness to open and accept patents.
Please remember that the hospital is only licensed (suspense) for 130 plus beds.
Through March 30, 2020: An unsigned undated document in CDPH's files, provided in response to LBREPORT.com's PRA request, is titled "Timeline and Summary of Events of OSHPD Efforts to Assist Community Hospital of Long Beach to Become Operational." If accurate, it describes conditions at the facility during the period when state lawmakers were telling Governor Newsom that Community Hospital was ready to reopen. (u>Caveat: Other documents indicate some, but perhaps not all, of the items listed as needing correction were addressed/corrected by April 1-3, see below.)
In an effort to augment the COVID-19 surge capacity, OSHPD and CDPH has made an intense effort through field visits and numerous conference calls to guide and assist the subject facility in their efforts to become operational for the level of patient care permitted by CDPH...The major issues are on CDPH’s area of jurisdiction:
<;p>Issues with licensing and healthcare. In discussions w/ CDPH they project that it will probably take around two weeks to resolve the problematic issues and bring the facility to an operational status of 30 beds.
As far as building associated issues, OSHPD is utilizing alternate methods of compliance (workarounds) in order to bring the buildings to a conditional level of functionality and operate for the level of care established by CDPH. The facility has not resolved the following issues: No running hot water is available as well as for the air handlers and therefore no patient heat; air ducts are not clean and air balance reports have not been provided to OSHPD and CDPH for the areas that will be used for healthcare delivery.
A timeline along with a summary of the OSHPD staff findings is as follows:
March 18, 2020
OSHPD staff met on site with representatives from Long Beach Community Hospital, Jackie Lincer and Marian De Meire from the Department of Public Health, Licensing and Certification. The purpose of the visit was to determine the steps needed to open the facility as a General Acute-Care Hospital under a conditional license.
After a walkthrough of several areas the following was noted:
No running water in various patient rooms
In the rooms where the water worked there was no hot water and sediment was observed in the water
No hot water in the kitchen
No prefilters in various air handlers
No heating hot water to various air handlers therefore no heating available for patient care
The facility had not been in use for several years therefore general and ductwork cleaning was required
Mar 20, 2020
OSHPD Staff: Nathan Steele – Compliance Officer, Bryan Wynn – Fire Life Safety Officer met with CDPH and owners’ representatives on site. After a walkthrough of several areas the following was noted:
No running water in various patient rooms
In the rooms where the water worked there was no hot water and sediment was observed in the water
No hot water in the kitchen
No prefilters in various air handlers
No heating hot water to various air handlers therefore no heating available for patient care
The facility had not been in use for several years therefore general and ductwork cleaning was required
No recent records of inspection, testing and certification were available for review for the following Fire Protection systems to verify proper operability.
Fire alarm
Fire and Smoke dampers
Fire sprinkler
Generator
Automatic Transfer Switch
Fire extinguisher
Fire alarm panel had active trouble notifications
Egress lighting fixtures in stairways were not properly working
The facility showed very little progress making the necessary corrections that were relayed to CHLB on March 18th.
March 21, 2020
CDPH Site visit
Mar 27, 2020
OSHPD/CDPH Site Visit - OSHPD Staff: Nathan Steele – Compliance Officer, Nanci Timmins – Fire Life Safety Officer.
After a walkthrough and review of several documents, the following was noted:
HVAC
a. The air handlers were in the process of being repaired and the filters were being replaced.
b. Ductwork cleaning documentation not made available to OSHPD/CDPH.
c. Air balance report for all the areas to be occupied, not made available to OSHPD/CDPH.
2. Lighting
a. Lighting throughout the proposed occupied space were not functioning properly.
3. Nurse Call
a. The nurse call and code blue worked; however the room numbers did not display.
b. The nurse call system in the ICU did not provide a visual display at the nurse’s station.
4. General Cleaning
a. The proposed occupied areas were not fully cleaned, including walls, elevators, floors, fixtures, ceiling, ductwork (and supply registers and return/exhaust grills).
5. OSHPD/CDPH were advised that Kitchen services are not going to be used, food preparation was observed during the walkthrough.
6. The oxygen system was not functional. Receipt of the medical gas certification was pending. Existing systems had not been tested for purity and pressure. Cylinder gases may be considered at the discretion of CDPH on a temporary basis.
7. Fire Sprinkler, Fire Alarm, Fire Safety (Can be resolved via Fire Watch)
a. Fire alarm devices were not tested during this visit, as fire alarm company staff were not in attendance.
b. Sprinkler system flow verification was not performed or observed during this visit, as sprinkler company staff were not in attendance.
c. Generator testing was not performed because appropriate contractor was not in attendance.
d. Means of egress needed to be verified including exit signs in stair 3 exit.
Mar 31, 2020
OSHPD/CDPH Site Visit - OSHPD Staff: Nathan Steele – Compliance Officer, Nanci Timmins – Fire Life Safety Officer
Items that need to be addressed:
1. The air handlers were being in the process of being repaired and the filters were being replaced.
a. Ductwork cleaning documentation not made available to OSHPD/CDPH.
b. Air balance report for all the areas to be occupied not made available to OSHPD/CDPH.
2. Fire Sprinkler, Fire Alarm, Fire Safety: Several issues unresolved however, OSHPD recommended Fire Watch as an alternative for the facility to become temporarily operational.
a. The smoke barrier doors at East wing - level 2 not fully functional. Facility staff began repairs on this door on that date.
b. Documentation for fire alarm system testing, sprinkler system testing, generator testing and hood suppression system testing were not provided.
On March 30 in the 6 p.m. hour, Jacquelinde Lincer, Chief of CDPH's Field Operfaions Branch Region VI, sends an email to multiple CDPH staffers, stating in part:
Just spoke to Virg Narbutas concerning the patients to be served at LBCH. She confirmed the response with John Molina. The hospital does not plan to limit only to COVID-19 patients. Their plan is to start with M/S type patients in the ICU unit (11 beds) then bring on one M/S unit (22 beds) and another in the future. If one of the patients admitted becomes COVID-19 they plan to keep the patients and provide care. They are also working on opening the ER and contracting with an ER group of physicians to provide service. We will be doing an onsite visit tomorrow at 9 am to review their readiness to open and accept patents.
Please remember that the hospital is only licensed (suspense) for 130 plus beds.
April 3, 2020: Health management firm rep provides these documents to CDPH:
Further to your visit to CHLB yesterday, attached please find the documents you requested:
1. Evacuation/Emergency Preparedness Training, including Med Sleds
2. Hospital Orientation packet, including fire life safety
3. Emergency Preparedness Plan
4. Generator Reports. Please note that we have included the generator report for Generator #1 showing it works successfully, as well as the ASCO report which shows the ATS successfully is triggered by the generator within time frames...
Air Balance report submitted to CDPH: Multiple testing and certification documents reflected in PRA released documents.
April 3, 2020
From: Lincer, Jackie@CDPH
To: De Meire, Marian@CDPH
Attachments: Air Balance CHLB ICU South - Emergency Service 202472ES 3-26-20 TAB Report-.pdf
Air Balance CHLB - CAV SPD Area - Emergency Service 202472ESA 3-31-20 TAB Report-.pdf
Air Balance CHLB - Med Surg 2E Patient Rooms - Emergency Service 202472ESB 4-2-20 TAB Report-.pdf
Generator Report.pdf
From: Virg Narbutas Sent: Friday, April 3, 2020 12:13 PM
To: Lincer, Jackie@CDPH Subject: Fw: OSHPD Asks
Jackie,
Attached are reports relating to OSHPD request. Everything has been completed successfully. Thanks. Virg
From: Kim Milstien Sent: Friday, April 3, 2020 12:01 PM
To: Virg Narbutas Subject: OSHPD Asks
Virg, as per our conversation this morning, recognizing that the OSHPD surveyors had to leave prior to our Exit on 3/31, here are my notes from them, and what has been done:
Air balance has been successfully completed for ICU, Sterile Processing, and Med Surg.
Individual reports are attached.
Fire alarm testing was successful in ICU and in Med Surg 2-E
It was noted that the articulator on the fire door in Med Surg 2-E was broken. It has been fixed.
It was noted that the hose at the sprinkler outlet was an insufficient size. That has been fixed.
Sprinkler test at the Cardiology B level was completely successful
Generator tests and ATS tests were completed and sent to Marian. I have attached a copy here.
Kim
HMA Kim Milstien
Principal | Los Angeles,
From: Kim Milstien
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 3:21 PM
To: marian.demaire@cdph.ca.gov
Cc: Virg Narbutas
Subject: Documents from Community Hospital Long Beach
Hello, Marian,
Further to your visit to CHLB yesterday, attached please find the documents you requested:
1. Evacuation/Emergency Preparedness Training, including Med Sleds
2. Hospital Orientation packet, including fire life safety
3. Emergency Preparedness Plan
4. Generator Reports. Please note that we have included the generator report for Generator #1 showing it works successfully, as well as the ASCO report which shows the ATS successfully is triggered by the generator within time frames.
If you have any questions or need anything else, please don’t hesitate to email or call me at the
number below.
Thank you,
Kim
April 3, 2020: Community Hospital/MWN issues the following release:
STATEMENT ON COMMUNITY HOSPITAL LONG BEACH REOPENING
April 03, 2020 – MWN, LLC, the owner/operator of Community Hospital Long Beach (CHLB), issued the following statement today:
"We started this endeavor two weeks ago at the state’s request. Governor Newsom has been clear on the urgent need to increase hospital capacity in response to the challenges caused by COVID-19. Community Hospital Long Beach is now ready to answer that call.
Thanks to the support of Long Beach residents, local businesses, and our region’s elected officials, including Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Congressman Alan Lowenthal, State Senator Lena Gonzalez, Assemblyman Pat O’Donnell and Councilman Daryl Supernaw, CHLB is prepared to join the network of hospitals caring for patients in this critical time.
CHLB has always been synonymous with our community’s well-being, hence the incredible effort to continue its legacy. Staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly over the past two weeks to open the hospital on a muchexpedited timeline. The City of Long Beach has helped us hire over 100 employees to maintain 24/7 coverage of the ICU unit. Close to $2 million in medical equipment and services have been purchased. And our community has rallied behind us with donations of crucial supplies and their invaluable time.
We have accommodated all of the state’s requests and ask that the California Department of Public Health fulfill their commitment to licensing CHLB so that we can serve our patients and community when they need it most. We’ve risen to the challenge; it’s time to reopen Community Hospital."
April 14, 2020: Long Beach City Council approves allocating $250,000 (offered by 4th district Councilman Daryl Supernaw from his district's budgeted funds) so city crews can perform repairs that [agendizing memo text] "include but are not limited to repairs to the elevators." The agendizing memo acknowledges that the repairs are among items MWN is supposed to pay for under its lease with the City. Councilman Supernaw's agendizing memo states in pertinent part:
...Funding Repairs to Elevators at Community Hospital Long Beach
In response to the emergency declarations, leadership at MWN has offered to make Community Hospital available for COVID-19 emergency support to the regional area via a contract with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), under the Emergency Services Act, Government Code section 8655 -8659, and Civil Code section 1714.5., which will allow Community Hospital to coordinate inpatient transfers during the emergency.
To prepare for patient transfers, MWN is required to expedite repairs and certifications at Community Hospital to handle the immediate workload anticipated for the COVI D-19 response. Repairs include but are not limited to repairs to the elevators. The elevator repair cost alone is estimated to be $250,000. To support the effort to make the Community Hospital available for COVID-19, the Fourth Council District recommends allocating and transferring $250,000 of its One-time District Priorities Funds to immediately complete the elevator work. The City will then perform the required repairs through a City contract even though it is technically the responsibility of MWN. The repairs are not associated with future use of the Hospital as an acute care hospital and are solely to provide funds to MWN in making the Community Hospital available as a COVID-19 patient transfer center to better protect regional health and safety. The City would be
making these repairs effectively as an advance to MWN with the understanding that MWN and the City will work together to secure reimbursement to the City for these costs from the State or other sources. However, there is no assurance of reimbursement...
July 17, 2020: responding to an inquiry from LBREPORT.com on the status of repairs and the hospital's future reopemning, the City's Director of Economic Development, John Keisler, said via email that "the anticipated surge in hospital visits related to COVID-19 did not materialize, and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) no longer required the use of Community Hospital for patient transfers."
December 18, 2020: With COVID-19 cases surging, LBREPORT.com sough specifics from CDPH"s Office of Public Affairs on the status of a license to reopen. The office emailed a generic non-respnsive response.
December. 23, 2020 Long Beach city management stymied LBREPORT.com's effort to ask Mayor Robert Garcia for specifics about his involvement during a regularly scheduled webcast briefing. When LBREPORT.com sought to participate by phone (to avoid technical issues with the Web-X digital system), a city management staffer initially claimed the Web-X system won't accept telephone questions (untrue), then admited city staff had simply decided not to allow telephone questions. Follow-up efforts by LBREPORT.com to arrange a recorded phoner with Mayor Garcia were unsuccessful (his Chief of staff Diana Tang dkdn't respond to our voice mail and email messages.)
December 29, 2020: LBREPORT.com sought to pose a question to CDPH Secretary Mark Ghaly during a webcast press event (in which Dr. Ghaly said Gov Newsom and CDPH had launched a new plan to better coordinate hospital resources regionally.) LBREPORT.com waited patuently in the queue; CDPH took questions from mainly large outlets, then abruptly ended the webcast without calling on us.
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