AV Hospital Sues Los Angeles County
One of California's largest district hospitals has filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County, claiming it has been denied millions of dollars of special property tax money to help operate its trauma care center.
The suit, filed by Antelope Valley Hospital in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims that the $1 million a year it is receiving in public tax funds is insufficient for the job. Instead, the 420-bed facility wants $10 million a year, and another $100 million in back payments.
Although Antelope Valley Hospital is in California – and the nation's – most populous county, it is located in the remote high desert city of Lancaster, 70 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Hospital officials have suggested its distance from the core of county activity has made it a low priority for receiving funding from Measure B, which was passed by voters in 2002 by a wide margin as a way to ensure the county trauma system was prepared in case of a terrorist attack or similar catastrophe with large numbers of casualties.
The special tax raises about $250 million a year, and how it is dispersed is at the discretion of the County Board of Supervisors. A 2014 state audit concluded that more than three-quarters of the money goes to the hospitals operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and less than 20% goes to private facilities, although there is no data available suggesting that the current allocation was the best use of the money.
According to AVH officials, the hospital serves about 5% of the county’s population, but receives about one-half of one percent of the Measure B funds.
“Despite repeated reassurances from the county that AVH would receive its fair share of funding, our hospital has been all but forgotten by the county – in favor of those hospitals that are closer to the county seat,” said Pavel Petrik, M.D., chair of the department of surgery and trauma medical director at AVH. “Litigation is not our first choice, but all other avenues have been exhausted. As a not-for-profit district hospital, Antelope Valley Hospital is doing what we must to assure that we can continue to provide critically needed healthcare services to the thousands of L.A. County residents who rely on us daily.”
County officials have declined comment about the suit. A trial date has not been set.
