A View From Sonoma Sun

In our hands

'“Whither the Hospital?” has been one of our recurring questions these last few years, and of course it was the question of concerned citizens in the Valley for many years before the Sun ever rose. Unfortunately, there is yet no answer to that question."

"We well remember when the hospital administration sat with the Sun’s editorial board last spring and said, in essence, “We can prove to you right now that the hospital will close in 8 months if Measure C doesn’t pass.”'

"Well, it didn’t pass, and it hasn’t closed. That’s thanks to continued good efforts by the administration, which we appreciate, but some credibility has been lost. That’s why we were so pleased to see the Plan B group form and step into the post-C vacuum. And why we’re so pleased the Health Care Coalition is active, though we wish Messrs. Pease and Edwards, the coalition’s designated leaders, could move its deliberations along a little faster."

"Nevertheless, the coalition’s process has been most interesting to follow, with a progression of largely disinterested speakers educating the community on sometimes complex aspects of hospital regulations, operations, financing, siting, and construction."

"Two weeks ago, the coalition heard a proposal, or more properly, a presentation, by Cirrus Health, a Texas firm that builds and runs private hospitals. If its due diligence pans out, Cirrus would build a new hospital at Eighth Street East and Napa Road, with NO taxpayer funds, and operate it in conformance with state laws requiring access by the entire community.
What’s not to like?"

"Well, as we learned at the coalition’s meeting this week, sewer and water. Those are the key problems that County Supervisor Valerie Brown and City Planner David Goodison identified for us. The county could, on its own authority, provide sewer service to the Eighth Street site, were Ms. Brown willing. And if the water problem could be solved, then the main regulatory hurdles would seem to be cleared, with no vote of the people required. That is, all the approvals could come by agency action – forget the daunting two-thirds majority of voters. No tax, and therefore no voters, would be needed! (Nor the cost of an election, nor the potential for another divisive contest.)"

"But how to solve the water problem? Wells? Really deep ones? Probably, water for the hospital is a higher priority than water for a golf course, but underground water levels reportedly have been dropping for years, in any case, and so water might need to be purchased, presumably from the Valley of the Moon Water District. And the district doesn’t serve that far east, UNLESS, of course, the land were to be within the Sonoma city limits."

"This fact ultimately puts the decision back in our hands, the hands of the voters, which is where it should be. Far better, that the citizens themselves vote to expand the Urban Growth Boundary to include the Eighth Street site, if it is to become home to our new hospital."

"A 4 percent increase in the UGB area would suffice, and the city could zone the connecting parcels as the county has them zoned now, so no immediate changes would result from the expansion of the UGB, other than to make possible a new hospital at the proposed site."

"So, fellow citizens, perhaps we’ll soon have the issue back in our hands. With rejuvenated leadership from the Hospital Board and support from the city council, this could work. Or not! We trust that the voters will make a good decision, as a community, once they have the opportunity."

"Other sites? Other proposals? Still not much from which to choose, and it may all be moot, if some measure isn’t put back before the voters, soon."