Vote Yes on Measure H

The people of the Greater Tehachapi area have pledged their hearts and pocketbooks to the construction of the Replacement Tehachapi Critical Access Hospital.

Voter approval of two Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District bond measures, one for $15 million in 2004 and one for $50 million in 2009, proclaimed the community’s determination to build a state-of-the-art medical facility to replace the existing old hospital, which must cease operation as an acute care facility due to state of California seismic regulations.

The bond funds have done their job. A state-of-the-art facility of which the community can be proud has arisen from the bare earth of the Loop Ranch in the northern section of the city.

Now the new hospital – nearing completion at its Capital Hills site – needs a helping hand and a partner to accomplish the community’s vision. Various factors (not unusual in a project of this magnitude), including an environmental legal challenge that delayed construction for a year and problems with a prime contractor, bumped the total cost of the facility to $92 million. The bond funds are exhausted.

The approval of Measure H on June 7 will provide the pathway to the completion and long-term operation of the new hospital.

Approval of Measure H will not cost taxpayers one penny.

A “Yes” vote will approve a 30-year affiliation between the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District and Adventist Health, which, upon passage of the measure, will operate the new and existing hospitals and the healthcare district’s vital rural clinics in Mojave, California City and Tehachapi in return for a $27 million lease pre-payment to the district. The healthcare district will continue to own the new and old hospitals and all the other district properties.

A “Yes” vote will ensure access to Adventist Health’s vast network of medical resources, experience and technology, including the award-winning San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield.

Without affiliation with Adventist and its immediate infusion of $27 million to finish and equip the hospital, the replacement hospital would struggle to open, and then it would open with several medical wings remaining empty shells awaiting a patchwork of support from fundraising drives or costly loans.

I have listened to San Joaquin Community Hospital CEO Doug Duffield speak a number of times, and I believe that in operating the district’s properties, Adventist will be sensitive to the needs of the Tehachapi area and will provide inclusive, comprehensive health care. While Adventist Health is faith-based, it is faith that has inspired Adventists to excel in the world of healthcare delivery.

We can be proud that our community and healthcare district board have fought tenaciously to build our new hospital. It has not been easy.

Adventist will be a good partner.

I encourage you to vote “Yes” on Measure H.

Claudia White

Owner/publisher, The Loop Newspaper