Hospital's growing pains

The new Tehachapi hospital will open when the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) says it can open.

"There is no exact day," David Eastman of Adventist Health, the hospital operator, said at the Jan. 4, 2017 meeting of the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council. "The best estimate is the second half of this year."

Eastman said there is a time lag between the time the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) signs off on the building with a Certificate of Occupancy and when the CDPH arrives for a final survey of total preparedness, including policy procedures, supplies and staff.

"They (CDPH) said four to six months, and that scares us," he said.

"But we think it will be only a month," Eastman told Forde Files.

The building was designed under 2007 codes, which have since changed. The hospital must be licensed under current codes, so some updates to the never-used building are necessary. The biggest update involves the hospital pharmacy, which will be rebuilt to meet new air circulation and pharmaceutical handling and mixing regulations. The changes require design work, OSHPD approvals, bidding and construction. The hospital lab also needs two sinks instead of the existing one.

"OSHPD is working with us," Eastman said. "They are allowing us to make changes based on the original permit. That will save a couple of months. Otherwise it would be a brand-new project."