Healthcare district closes books on Proposition G from 2006
The Grossmont Healthcare District, the landlord of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, has closed the books on Proposition G, a $247 million bond measure from 2006 that brought new buildings and improvements to the hospitals.
(The San Diego Union-Tribune file photo)
$247 million bond financed infrastructure, improvements at Grossmont Hospital
By Karen Pearlman
EAST COUNTY —
After 13 years of construction projects, the Grossmont Healthcare District closed its books on Proposition G, the $247 million bond measure approved by more than 77 percent of East County voters in 2006.
The bond oversight committee earlier this month presented to the district's five-member governing board a final report summarizing the completion of all Prop. G improvements at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa. The improvements started in 2007, the district said.
Prop. G financed much-needed infrastructure improvements at the hospital, and was the first bond measure since the hospital opened in 1955, bond oversight committee Chairman Jeffrey A. Olson said.
Among the projects was Grossmont Hospital's $41 million emergency and critical care center built in 2009, and the addition of new patient beds.
The center is located directly above the hospital's existing Emergency Department and First Floor Surgical Intensive Care Unit and has a 75,000-square-foot expansion that added 90 new state-of-the-art patient rooms. The room additions include 24 intensive care beds and 66 medical-surgical beds.
Prop. G also included construction of a 60,000-square-foot, three-story surgical building with new operating rooms, including catheterization labs and interventional radiology labs. Olson's report said the hospital is now poised to receive certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Other bond improvements included a $46 million investment to expand the hospital's Central Energy Plant. The plant is a two-story, 18,000-square-foot building that will allow Grossmont Hospital to generate its own electricity and reduce the hospital's emission of greenhouse gas pollutants by 90 percent, the report said.
The bond also funded a $9 million seismic retrofitting of the hospital's main patient floors in the East Tower, which was constructed in 1974. The upgrades for earthquake safety and improved disaster response mean the tower's foundations are now in compliance with California seismic requirements. The report said the retrofit will ensure that acute patient care and treatment areas can continue to function after an earthquake.
Prop. G also paid for the building of a 6,700-square-foot pharmacy that replaced one that was half the size. Grossmont Hospital fills more than 90,000 medication orders a month, the report said.
A 13,000-square-foot clinical testing laboratory in the Heart and Vascular Center replaced the hospital's existing 10,000-square-foot lab.
"I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say the Prop. G projects were not at times difficult and challenging over the 13 years," said Grossmont Healthcare District CEO Barry Jantz. "As well as inspiring, as each project was completed. All those involved in the efforts -- including the taxpayers of the East Region -- should feel very proud of what we were able to accomplish to significantly improve patient care capabilities at our public hospital."
The main project that did not go through was a plan for a Health Occupations Training Center.
Grossmont Healthcare District Board members in 2014 voted to discontinue the project. At the time, the board said it was not necessary because of other local facilities, such as the Grossmont Union High School District's Health Occupations Center, which could be used for similar training. The report said that about $100,000 was spent for conceptual design costs before the project was discontinued.
The board voted to use the nearly $7.5 million earmarked for the educational facility for other Prop. G needs at the hospital that would be consistent with the bond language.
The Grossmont Healthcare District provides health-related community programs and services in East County and is the landlord of Sharp Grossmont Hospital. The district's board represents more than 500,000 people inside a 750-square mile area in East County.
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