Avalon needs a new hospital building, according to a member of the Avalon Municipal Hospital Board of Trustees. He estimated the project would cost $10-$15 million. The city owns the hospital.
The news came Tuesday night, Oct. 15, when the Avalon City Council briefly adjourned the council meeting to hold the hospital trustees meeting. Council Member Ralph Morrow made the need for a new hospital public during a brief comment before the council meeting resumed.
Avalon needs a new hospital building, according to a member of the Avalon Municipal Hospital Board of Trustees. He estimated the project would cost $10-$15 million. The city owns the hospital.
The news came Tuesday night, Oct. 15, when the Avalon City Council briefly adjourned the council meeting to hold the hospital trustees meeting. Council Member Ralph Morrow made the need for a new hospital public during a brief comment before the council meeting resumed.
Morrow said the current hospital building is wearing out. He said he wanted the public to know that the existing hospital building needs to be replaced because it doesn’t meet increasingly strict earthquake safety standards.
“We’ve got to keep that hospital,” Morrow said. “Without it, (there are) no cruise ships.”
According to Morrow, the Santa Catalina Island Company has offered a building as a site for the new hospital. However, Morrow said that according to the hospital’s consultant, the building is located on a flood plain.
Morrow made his remarks after the hospital trustees approved the actions of the previous meeting and received reports from the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer.
According to the Catalina Island Medical Center website, Avalon’s first medical clinic was located in the Hotel Metropole in 1915. The fire of 1915 put that clinic out of business.
“Medical care was provided there for just a few short years, until the Catalina Island Hospital was established at the old Banning residence on Sumner Avenue, near where the courthouse now stands. Patients were seen there, at a converted residence, until the late 1950s,” the website said. “At that time, a dedicated group of volunteers decided Avalon needed its own formal hospital, a place where patients could be treated on an emergency basis as well as in an in-patient capacity.”
“In 2004, the hospital was renovated, with new rest rooms, improved access and a complete renovation of the emergency and operating rooms,” the website said.
“The non-profit facility has annual revenues of $6 million, which includes about $350,000 from a city-wide sales tax subsidy as well as grants, donations and contributions from fund-raising organizations,” the website said.
Street sweeper repairs
That same night, Public Works Director Pastor Lopez updated the City Council on the status of the city’s street sweeper. The engine is currently being rebuilt. According to Lopez, every time the sweeper went out, oil got into the cooling system. He said the engine rebuild had cost Avalon $2,000 so far and would cost about $500 more.
Lopez said most cities replace their sweepers every three to four years. He said the current sweeper was purchased in 2004. Lopez said a new street sweeper could cost $200,000. Lopez said that when the current sweeper is running again, it may last another year.
