CITIZENS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ISSUES REPORT ON HOSPITAL BOND EXPENDITURES

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October 27, 2009 (La Mesa)--A volunteer citizens group that is overseeing how the taxpayer-supported Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is spending millions of dollars in voter-approved bonds for construction projects at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa has issued a special mid-year report on construction progress, including the recent completion of the hospital’s Emergency and Critical Care Center (ECCC) expansion.

The group, called the Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC), recently published its 2009 Mid-Year Report to the Community. The group’s by-laws require an annual report, but not a mid-year report. However, the ICBOC Communications Sub-Committee recommended a mid-year report in order to keep taxpayers fully informed about the capital improvements underway at the hospital, according to ICBOC chairman Ernest Ewin.

The ICBOC’s special 2009 Mid-Year Report to the Community is available on the Internet at a publicly accessible website, http://icboc.gafcon.net. Gafcon, Inc., a San Diego-based construction management firm, is managing the website, as well as providing administrative support to the Committee.

The ICBOC 2009 Mid-Year Report to the Community gives an update on the completion of the addition of 90 new beds, including 24 intensive care beds and 66 medical-surgical beds, to the hospital’s emergency department and critical care unit. The $41 million ECCC expansion was the first construction project covered under the $247 million, Proposition G bond measure, which voters approved in June 2006 by more than 77 percent, well above the two-thirds required. The Mid-Year Report includes a statement about the benefits of the new beds for emergency admissions from Janet Hanely, chief nursing officer at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. The Mid-Year Report also gives an update on the other construction projects at the hospital that will be financed by the Prop. G bonds, including a new Diagnostic and Treatment Center and Health Occupations Training Center, as well as improvements to the Central Energy Plant and East Tower.

The Grossmont Healthcare District is a public agency that supports health-related community programs and services in San Diego's East County region. Formed in 1952 to build and operate Grossmont Hospital, the District serves as landlord of the hospital, including ownership of the property and buildings on behalf of local taxpayers. In 1991, the District leased the hospital's operation to Sharp Healthcare under a 30-year lease that runs through the year 2021. The District is governed by a five-member board of directors, each elected to four-year terms, who represent more than 500,000 people residing within the District's 750 square miles in San Diego's East County. For more information about GHD, visit www.grossmonthealthcare.org.
 


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