![[L to R] Partner Patrick McNicholas of McNicholas & McNicholas, Dr. Pavel Petrik Medical Director of the AV Hospital Trauma Department, Dr. Larry Stock Medical Director of the AV Hospital Emergency Department, Dennis Knox, CEO of AV Hospital, and Partner Brad Hertz of The Sutton Law Firm at a press conference Tuesday, April 14, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles. (contributed)](https://www.theavtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AVH-Press-Cof-Los-Angeles-4.14.15.jpg)
Attorneys for the hospital, McNicholas & McNicholas and The Sutton Law Firm, filed the claim April 13 against the County of Los Angeles and the board of supervisors for failing to properly administer and allocate money earmarked for trauma centers for nearly a decade – funds provided through property tax revenue per Measure B. [Read the claim here.]
AV Hospital representatives and attorneys held a media conference in Los Angeles Tuesday morning, saying their claim is a precursor to a lawsuit that will seek “economic damages and other appropriate relief” on behalf of AV Hospital.
Administrators said that Antelope Valley Hospital serves 5 percent of Los Angeles County’s population, but receives less than any other trauma and non-trauma center in the county – which is less than half of 1 percent of all Measure B funds annually.
“Based on the state auditor’s report issued in February 2014, and based on the intentions of Measure B funds, we believe that we’ve been shorted at Antelope Valley Hospital in excess of $10 million per year,” AV Hospital CEO Dennis Knox said at Tuesday’s press conference. “At Antelope Valley Hospital we serve over 1/20th of the trauma patient volume in L.A. County, and we receive less than 1/200th of the funding.” [Read the state auditor’s report here.]
Officials at Tuesday’s conference explained that Measure B, approved by voters in November 2002, assesses taxes to fund the county’s trauma centers and emergency medical services.
AV Hospital’s claim was filed following a state audit that criticized the county for consistently failing to conduct comprehensive assessments of its trauma system and for failing to use Measure B funds to address the county’s most pressing trauma needs.
Dr. Larry Stock, Medical Director of the AV Hospital Emergency Department, told members of the media on Tuesday that the hospital must pursue the much-needed funds to pay for the resources it needs to care for its patients.
“We need to have adequate resources that provide safe care to continue to provide exceptional quality and to do all of this in a timely way. In order to do that, we need the resources to provide the staff, services and infrastructure,” Dr. Stock said. “So, it is our duty to go after funds that we are entitled to under the law in order to help our patients.”
Given the hospital’s very thin margin of profitability, Knox said other areas of operations would suffer at the facility if the county continued to short their fair share of Measure B funding for emergency services.
“We have a very thin margin when it comes to profitability of the hospital,” he said. “This past fiscal year our bottom line was $600,000 on a $300 million budget. The ER and trauma service at the urgent and emergent needs of the citizens of the Antelope Valley are paramount, and so we do have to reallocate funds continuously to ensure that there is high quality patient safety in the emergency department and trauma services. Now that obviously takes away from other areas of the hospital.”
Patrick McNicholas, Partner at McNicholas & McNicholas, reiterated the purpose of the press conference, saying that the time has come for AV Hospital to stand up for the funding that it is legally entitled.
“The harm inflicted on AV Hospital and its community is exactly what Measure B was trying to prevent when it was enacted,” McNicholas stated.
According to a February 2014 California State Auditor letter to the governor, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors allocates Measure B funds to reimburse the county’s 14 trauma centers for treatment of patients who are unable to pay for their care and who have no third party insurance coverage.
State Auditor Elaine M. Howle recommended in the letter to the governor that Los Angeles supervisors reassess their allocation approach to show that the county is fulfilling Measure B’s intent. [Read the letter here.]
“The board has not reassessed its approach to allocating Measure B funds in roughly a decade, hindering its ability to demonstrate that it has fulfilled the intent of the measure, which, according to board documents, includes assisting hospitals in under-served areas become trauma centers,” Howle reported in 2014.
According to Knox, the hospital has exhausted all other efforts to resolve the proper allocation of Measure B funds, and they are simply asking Los Angeles County to follow the law.
“The present situation is just unsustainable,” Knox said. “This is especially in consideration that the population growth in the Antelope Valley continues to increase and the fact that we are the only trauma center within a 50-mile radius of the Antelope Valley. We’re not taking this action today lightly at all.”
McNicholas explained that the hospital is currently following procedural requirements with its claim before filing the lawsuit.
“So, the expiration of the governmental claim, which will be in 60 days, or if the county denies the claim, then at that point and time a lawsuit will be filed,” he said.
Previous related story: AV Hospital files claim against L.A. County
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Michael Rives says
The Antelope Valley Healthcare District is constantly plaqued by non-payment or slow payment for caring for persons in the AV who use the AV Hospital Emergency Department as a primary doctor. They come to the ER Department knowing they will get treatment and won’t have to pay. AVPH and the Community Clinic in Lancaster are overwhelmed, too. The question that needs discussing is how do we separate primary and emergency care and providers in the AV and how to develop a system of payment received for services rendered for those who can’t or won’t pay. If we don’t address these questions, then the money the AVHD gets eventually from LA County from this lawsuit will be utilized to just keep up with the flood of non-paying patients.
William says
@Micahel Rives
I’ve never been to the AV Hospital as a patient.
I did work at a large medical center down below that had a 20 bed ER. To deal with non-emergency type care , they created an ‘Urgent Care’ section in the ER with a nurse and a Physician’s Assistant instead of an ER physician.
Patients with minor injuries or illnesses like the flu were directed to the Urgent Care office within the ER. An ER physician was always available to oversee any emerging problem with an Urgant Care patient.
Does AV Hospital have such a setup and if not, why not? It saves money and allows the ER to free up ER docs for true emergencies and trauma care.
BTW, If Measure B was passed in 2002 and it’s now 2015, what took AV Hospital so long? Were they too busy doing who-knows-what to notice? Or, were the succession of CEOs too busy negotiating their compensation and severance packages to notice?
Whenever I hear the name Antelope Valley Hospital over the last 25 years, it brings up all the news reports of political-type conflicts and other nonsense and rarely health care.
William says
Careful folks. Criticize Rex Parris and moll flounders will have a problem with that.
She is the guardian of Rex’s public image or something.
Meanwhile, her public image is quite a piece of work.
moll flanders says
Now you’re just lying William, and you know it. Shame on you William! You need to read my comment again because you completely went in a different direction. How can you learn anything if you don’t, or won’t see or hear what is being said. Let me make this simpler for you; I was criticizing your comment, and saying to you that there were other players involved with the birth tourism controversy, besides Rex Parris, but you only mention Mayor Parris. I suggested to you that you do your homework on this matter, and instead of doing that, you went off the rails, and decided you would just call me a defender of Rex Parris. Shame on you William.
TJ says
Criticizing Rex is easy. He’s done and said so many dumb things you could write a book. Defending him? Not so much.
William says
Rex is like a rotten child that gets off on attention no matter how negative.
It’s a sickness and Rex hasn’t sought treatment.
moll flanders says
Apparently William, you aren’t interested in telling the truth. My comment wasn’t defending Rex Parris at all. I was saying there were more people involved in the birth tourism controversy, NOT just Rex Parris. I was criticizing your one dimensional comment, and suggested you should do your homework before commenting. Your comment above is a complete lie, so shame on you.
Jamie says
Good for them & I hope they win. LA County has been downright rotten to this valley. When they’re not dumping their trash & criminals on us, they’re withholding funds that rightfully belong to our hospital-a trauma center. The people need to stand up too. After all, this is affecting the quality & lifesaving treatment we receive as residents of this valley. I don’t doubt that hospital does the best they can with the resources provided, but can only do so much with SO very little.
TJ says
Instead of suing Santa Clarita and Palmdale Rex should be leading the charge on this one. This is actually a legitimate cause.
Jamie says
Exactly. Where is his advocacy in this matter??
TJ says
He’s too busy trying to take over Santa Clarita and Palmdale. Pure politics. It’s a nice easy payday too. Too bad he isn’t a true leader and someone who cared more about the valley than he does playing politics and making money for himself and his pals.
anotherdummy says
I am glad he isn’t involved (publicly, anyway). His involvement would likely discredit this case as political posturing.
Person says
It was said in the related story yesterday, but it needs to be said again. The Antelope Valley needs to secede from Los Angeles County and form it’s own. Local funds for local issues. The L.A. basin has four county supervisory districts to our one — they’re not going to care about us. We can do better.
Look it up, a similar movement was started in the early 90’s, but the region lacked the votes to pass it. It’s time to discuss it again.
Valley funds for valley issues.