Following the sudden and somewhat surprising donation of a 2.5-acre parcel from the Santa Catalina Island Company dedicated to the construction of a new medical facility, the Catalina Island Medical Center has unveiled an architectural vision for the new facility.
“The donation of land in Quail Creek was a wonderful gift to the people of Catalina,” said Medical Center CEO Jason Paret, who this week said the donation will allow the medical facility and its foundation to move forward with plans long in the making.
This past week, the foundation unveiled plans for a new facility during a celebratory event at the Catalina Island Museum.
According to Paret, more than 125 “enthusiastic” guests attended the event.
At the event, said Paret, he was proud to reveal an initial rendering of a proposed new facility.
Last week, Catalina Island Company CEO Randy Herrel said the donation of land came only after long and careful conversations with Paret, board chair Carol Reynolds and others involved in the project.
Herrel said the Island has seen dramatic progress in the past 18 months and they concluded that the donation of the $5 million parcel was in the best interest of everyone connected to the island as they too, are concerned about the future of healthcare on the island.
Now, says Paret, the hospital board has begun a campaign to reach out to islanders and key officials to build support for constructing a new facility on the donated land, which he estimated will take a decade to complete.
Paret said the hospital board will work closely with residents, the Island Company and an ad-hoc board appointed by the city to develop definitive plans going forward.
He said the museum reception was simply the first step in a long process that will hopefully end up with the construction of a new medical facility for the island.
While a final price tag will ultimately depend on variables, Paret said he still estimates the new facility will cost approximately $60 million to construct, even though he acknowledged that in other states, it would cost much less.
“In any other community outside California,” said Paret, the facility may only cost only $30 million, but he said the “excessive” state regulations and the increased cost of transporting building materials to the island will elevate the facility’s overall cost.
Nevertheless, Paret said now that the CIMC Board has land to work with and some valuable input from residents, they will move quickly.
Even so, Islanders are still looking at a best-case scenario of as much as a decade till opening any new facility.
“Even if we started to tomorrow,” it will take as much as 10 years to complete, said Paret. Nevertheless, the new facility, if and when constructed, will indeed meet California earthquake standards, he said, and if voters approve the project next year, it should be complete in time to meet the state’s requirements.
Moreover, he said the new facility will bring state of the art healthcare to island with a modern facility with approximately 12 private rooms.
Paret said the hospital board plans to bring a new imitative back to voters, likely in 2020, to seek approval of a $1 transit tax to fund the basic facility.
In 2018, the hospital board lost a relatively close vote (Measure T failed by a vote of 54-46 percent) for a $1 transit tax.
Many of the concerns expressed by voters, such as no Sunset provision and the lack of land on which to build have now been alleviated, said Paret.
Paret said the fundraising plan also includes raising as much as $16 million from private donors, foundations and other institutional interests.
If approved by the voters, the remainder of the construction costs, he said, will be funded by a special loan fund dedicated to rural hospitals.
Once constructed, proceeds from the transit tax will fund the payback of the loan.
“With a new hospital we will be able to continue to provide care on Catalina, improve the overall health of the island, improve patient confidentiality, provide rapid transfers of patients for life threatening conditions to tertiary hospitals and provide additional services so residents do not have to travel for care they can receive at home,” Paret told supporters at the museum event.
During the event, he also presented a history of the different hospital locations taking the guests all the way back to its first location on Catalina Avenue.
He noted the Wrigley family involvement and support throughout the years.
Reynolds, co-chair of the hospital board, talked about how the partnership between the Catalina Island Company and the hospital board helped to secure the land donation.
She stated that, “when people work together good things happen.” She went on to say, “we will be looking to the community to strengthen existing partnerships and create new ones.”
Alison and Geoff Rusack attended the event and emphasized the partnership between the two entities and thanked everyone who worked with the Catalina Island Company to help secure the land donation.
The Catalina Island Medical Center Foundation welcomes comments on its fundraising efforts to support the preliminary plans and construction. Questions about supporting the endeavor can be directed to Shannon Hill, chair of the Foundation, at shannon@cimcfoundation.org.