Providence, Kaiser Permanente announce new Victorville hospital that will replace St. Mary Medical Center

Jun. 4—Kaiser Permanente and Providence Southern California are partnering to bring a new hospital to the High Desert — with an anticipated 2026 opening — in a venture that will also mean the closure of the nearly 65-year-old Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley.

In a statement released Thursday, Providence officials say the new hospital, which is pending regulatory review and approval, will be located in Victorville and include about 260 beds.

The heath care providers plan to construct the new hospital on property originally purchased in 2007 for what was then a new St. Mary Medical Center campus, Providence officials said.

Erik G. Wexler, president of Operations and Strategy for Providence — South, told the Daily Press the 98-acre location is situated west of Interstate 15 on Amargosa Road, between Bear Valley Road in Victorville and Main Street in Hesperia.

Regarding the partnership, Wexler said Providence is impressed by Kaiser's integrated model of high-quality care and views the affiliation as an opportunity to advance care for High Desert residents.

"Health care delivery has become very complex, and Providence has found that affiliations truly benefit the communities we serve, particularly areas with significant rates of serious health risks," Wexler said.

While the design and development of the new hospital, including whether it will offer a trauma center, have yet to be finalized, Wexler said it will be a full-service, acute care facility.

He said the property will likely include the hospital, a medical office building and possibly other ambulatory services, adding that the hospital may expand some of the "more high- end acuity level types of care" due to the partnership with Kaiser.

'We expect to see more patients than we do now in Apple Valley," said Wexler, who noted that St. Mary continues to serve Kaiser members on an emergency basis.

The estimated price tag of the new Providence-operated hospital is $750 million, according to Wexler, who said the cost "still needs to be perfected through the design and development process."

Victorville Mayor Debra Jones on Thursday told the Daily Press she welcomes the new hospital and the level of care it is expected to bring to the Victor Valley.

"Providence and Kaiser Permanente are industry-leading healthcare providers and their partnership no doubt will expand options for medical care that is certain to improve the quality of life in our region," Jones said. "We can't help but be excited by their investment in the well-being of our High Desert residents."

Hospitals across the state are bracing for new California earthquake laws that are likely to require tens of billions of dollars worth of new construction, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

In part, the new regulations state that hospitals must be able to remain in operation after a major earthquake by 2030.

Statewide, making hospitals compliant with the new rules could cost between $34 billion and $142 billion for retrofits or construction of new facilities, the SBJ reported.

Providence officials said St. Mary Medical Center will close because it does not meet the more stringent seismic requirements that will take effect in 2030, adding that bringing the facility into compliance would be financially and operationally infeasible.

Wexler said retrofitting St. Mary would cost about the same amount needed to build a new hospital.

"If we were to retrofit the Apple Valley site, it would not likely meet the innovative needs of health care for decades to come," Wexler said. 'It would protect us from an earthquake, but it wouldn't be the best way to continue to deliver care for the future."

Apple Valley Councilman Scott Nassif, who serves on the St. Mary Medical Center Foundation board, told the Daily Press the hospital expansion had been discussed for over a decade.

"The original expansion was an additional campus in Victorville, which morphed into the idea of a smaller hospital with specialized services," Nassif said. "Things were tabled for a while until Providence took over and eventually partnered with Kaiser to build a new hospital."

Nassif expressed excitement over the partnership and new hospital, but he said he always hoped that a new hospital would be built in town.

"When Newton T. Bass and Bud Westlund started Apple Valley, they worked to ensure that it had a fire department, school district and hospital," Nassif said. "They knew that people would move into a town where they were protected, their kids would be educated and they could get health care. Now, we're losing our hospital."

Nassif also voiced concern about the possible lack of emergency services for Apple Valley residents once St. Mary is shuttered.

"If St. Mary was located at the current proposed location five years ago, I would not be here today to talk to you about the announced move," Nassif said. "As you know, I had a unique cardiac event the morning of Sept. 15, 2016, that ultimately required open heart surgery that morning. I think that says a lot about the way I feel about the move to Victorville."

Nassif said he's also concerned about the potential negative economic impacts of the closure on other health care offices, businesses and residents who live near St. Mary.

"I know about the seismic issues the hospital is facing, but I think there could have been a solution to keep St. Mary here in Apple Valley," Nassif said. "But I understand it's a business decision by Providence, and we're just part of that decision."

In response, Providence St. Mary spokesperson Bryan Kawasaki did not directly address Nassif's comments, saying, "We're excited about the new hospital and our opportunity to expand access to high-quality, affordable care in a state-of-the-art setting, meeting the anticipated growth needs of the High Desert communities."

Once the Victorville hospital is built, Providence will continue to own the Apple Valley site, according to officials who said the not-for-profit organization may sell the property or invite other medical providers to use the building.

Providence officials said they will work with the community to determine the future of St. Mary, which was dedicated in November 1956 as St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital, then a 29-bed acute and maternity care facility.

Today, St. Mary has a bed count of 213 — 47 fewer than those expected at the new hospital in Victorville. Kawasaki said each bed in the new hospital will be in private rooms.

California, meanwhile, has required new hospitals to meet earthquake standards since 1974, following a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in the San Fernando Valley in 1971 that killed 64 people and collapsed buildings at the Olive View Medical Center and a veterans hospital, the Associated Press reported.

In 1994, after the magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake near Los Angeles damaged 11 hospitals and forced eight others to evacuate, California lawmakers required hospitals to either upgrade their existing buildings to withstand an earthquake or replace them. The original deadline was 2008, but that was extended to 2020 with some exceptions.

In 2019, all but 160 of the more than 3,000 hospital buildings in California had met the 2020 standards, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

At that time, the California Hospital Association said just 23 hospitals had met the 2030 standards, while 395 had not.

"If we follow through with this standard, we will likely close hospitals," Carmela Coyle, president of the California Hospital Association, told the AP.

Dr. Gregory Kelman, the regional medical director of operations for Southern California Permanente Medical Group, said the Providence-Kaiser partnership will combine the resources and care networks of both organizations in the High Desert.

Amid the collaboration, Providence and Kaiser will continue to respect each other's philosophy of health care practices, Providence officials said.

The new hospital, for example, will retain Providence's Catholic identity and continue to follow the "Ethical and Religious Directives" for Catholic health care, while Kaiser will continue to arrange for the provision of all health services for its patients, according to Providence.

In addition, Providence St. Mary Chief Executive Randy Castillo will maintain his leadership position and Providence will continue to have primary responsibility for operational oversight, with input from Kaiser officials.

"The COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit our community so hard, highlighted the need for a new hospital that will meet our area's growing health care needs," Castillo said in a statement. "We sought a partner that shares our goals and our vision to increase access to care, especially in under-served communities."

Victorville, the largest city in the High Desert, has a poverty rate of 22.8%, which Providence officials said is high compared to state and national averages. The city also includes vulnerable populations that experience health disparities, the organization said.

"The High Desert community is growing, and we must advance how we deliver health care to meet the changing needs of our community," Bill Caswell, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Kaiser Permanente Southern California said in a statement.

Founded in 1945, Kaiser has been established in the High Desert for years, serving over 110,000 members here.

Last year, Kaiser opened a 54,000-square-foot, three-story medical office on the corner of Escondido Avenue and Kaiser Permanente Way in Hesperia. The office offers high-tech exam rooms and telemedicine capabilities, among other amenities, the Daily Press reported.

Other Kaiser medical facilities in the Victor Valley include the High Desert Medical Offices on Park Avenue in Victorville and the Mental Health Medical Office on Main Street in Hesperia.

Additionally, the Target store on Bear Valley Road in Apple Valley includes a Kaiser-staffed clinic.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.

___

(c)2021 Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.

Visit Daily Press, Victorville, Calif. at www.vvdailypress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.