LOS MEDANOS: County Will Convert Hospital To Outpatient Clinic

      The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to "convert the bankrupt Los Medanos Community Hospital in Pittsburg to an outpatient health clinic." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the hospital's board voted to approve the deal Monday night despite a last-minute offer from a group of physicians. The doctors group had offered to purchase the hospital, but the "board considered the price too low." Right before Monday night's meeting, the doctors offered "an alternative plan to lease the site." However, Al Prince, a member of the hospital board, said it "chose the county's offer because the doctors group had not proven that it could finance the deal or follow through on its proposal." Under the approved plan, Contra Costa County will lease the hospital, which has been closed since 1994, for $100,000 annually. The lease for the clinic, which the county hopes to open in July 1999, must still be approved by bankruptcy court (2/25).