LOS MEDANOS: City Council Unexpectedly Approves Buyout Of Hospital

      Pittsburg City Council board members voted 3-2 Monday night "to approve a motion supporting a buyout for the defunct" Los Medanos hospital only one week after the Contra Costa County " Board of Supervisors voted to accept the county's plan to lease the empty building." The Contra Costa Times reports that council members considered a buyout for Los Medanos "better than the County's offer of leasing the property for the next 20 years" for $100,000 annually. In addition, Mayor Frank Quesada said the county "does not have a good track record" in running the hospital and had "contributed to [its] downfall in the first place." He said, "Any other group that offers would be better than what the county is now offering."

Up In The Air
      The Contra Costa Times reports that the board of supervisor's "decision to accept the county's plan shut out Phoenix Medical Facilities Group, a collection of 20 investors who made a similar bid to lease the 100-bed facility," after offering to "buy the hospital outright." The board said the "group had no financial track record nor a detailed plan of how it would operate the facility." E.R. Brooks, a member of Phoenix Medical, said "if an offer was accepted, the group would be able to provide a business plan within 15 days." The Contra Costa Times reports that the county had planned to reopen the facility by July 1, 1999 as an outpatient clinic. According to Elaine Null, a member of the Bay Point Municipal Advisory Council, the "delay in opening the facility," which has been closed since 1994, "has been 'ridiculous.'" She "urged the council to accept any offer" that reopens the facility (Hong, 3/4).