EDGEMOOR HOSPITAL: Plan Calls For Public-Private Partnership

      Allowing a private entity to take over Edgemoor Hospital has been added to the list of options for the future of the aging facility of "last resort for poor, chronically ill patients with serious medical conditions such as AIDS ... whom nursing homes have refused to accept." Edgemoor, which currently houses about 200 patients, the majority of whom are on Medi-Cal, is "slated to close within the next two years because it doesn't meet building codes," the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Under a proposal released Monday, "the county would donate 43 acres of Edgemoor property to a private entity," which "would rebuild the aging hospital as part of a senior-care system and then possible take it over." According to County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, the new facility "could offer programs such as assisted living, adult day care and a nutrition center." County Health Director Robert Ross said the county would most likely "stay involved in the hospital's operations because otherwise the state wouldn't approve continuing the higher rate of Medi-Cal reimbursement that Edgemoor now receives." Jacob said, "Whether or not the private sector would ultimately run the operation of Edgemoor or not, I don't know." The county is currently studying six other options for the facility which range from "buying a used hospital to splitting up the patients and moving them to different facilities." The "Tiger Team" group studying the proposals will make a final recommendation in February (Rother, 10/13).