CALIFORNIA: LOS ANGELES MAY LEASE PRIVATE HOSPITAL BEDS

      "Los Angeles County officials are quietly weighing a
 proposal to lease hundreds of beds from private hospitals, so
 they can build a dramatically downsized and less expensive
 replacement" for County-USC Medical Center, LOS ANGELES TIMES
 reports.  The officials "confirmed" yesterday that they are
 "taking very seriously" a January 15 proposal by California
 Hospital Medical Center and White Memorial Medical Center
 offering "as many as 200 hospital beds and the trained medical
 staff to go with them."  California Hospital President Melinda
 Beswick said, "Our intention was to pique the interest of all the
 stakeholders ... so we can really, truly transform the public
 health system."  TIMES reports that the proposal "is likely to
 intensify" the 32-year-old debate over the best way to replace
 the 2,000-bed County-USC facility, which has about a 50%
 occupancy rate.  A public hearing on a replacement for County-USC
 will be held today.
      COMPETING VISION:  Mark Finucane, the county's health
 services director, has proposed a $1.1 billion, 750-bed facility
 to replace County-USC.  However, some county officials want a
 replacement facility that is even smaller.  County Board of
 Supervisors Chair Zev Yaroslavsky said, however, that the
 California Hospital/White Memorial proposal needs to be looked at
 "very" seriously because a compelling case has not been made for
 a new 750-bed medical center.  He said a public-private
 partnership "is just the kind of health care innovation the
 county needs" in order to comply with the terms of federal
 government's $364 million bailout of the county health system
 (see AHL 4/16/96).  The TIMES reports, however, that some county
 officials "still support having one centralized medical center
 complex, despite the county's efforts to increase the role of the
 private sector in the county's health system" (Meyer, 1/29).