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| Brief History | ||
| Link to Tehachapi Hospital website: www.tvhd.org New Hospital Rendition |
The
main portion of the current Tehachapi Hospital (115 W. E Street) was
built in 1953
following the disastrous Tehachapi/Kern County earthquake of 1952
(Richter 7.7+) and
although the building has survived many earth movements since then, it
is not without visible damage. Meanwhile, the 1971 Sylmar earthquake
(Richter 6.6) resulted in 50 fatalities in that area from collapsed
and nearly collapsed hospital facilities and the 1994 Northridge
earthquake (Richter 6.7) caused $3 billion damage to area hospitals
alone, prompting the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Seismic Safety Act
(Hospital Act) to be created by the California legislature in 1973 and
later to be modified in 1994 by Senate Bill 1953. Pursuant to the law,
Tehachapi Hospital commissioned a seismic evaluation by
structural engineers in 1997 to determine the most cost effective path
to meeting the newly modified Hospital Act requirements. The report of the engineers, Thompson & La Brie, Consulting Structural Engineers, published in 1998 indicated that upgrading of the existing facilities to required seismic standards to permit operation as a hospital past the year 2007 would not be less costly, if even possible (because of unknown construction elements in the existing structure, foundation, and below foundation soil), than constructing a new hospital. The Tehachapi Hospital did complete in 2001 upgrading required by the Act to permit operation as a hospital through December 2007, but further upgrading to extend the operation period is not possible and extensions of time by the legislature*** appear not to be forthcoming precisely because of the essential need of hospital functioning during emergencies such as earthquakes. Thus, if we want a hospital in Tehachapi after 2007, we must build a new one, and that is the goal of the Tehachapi Hospital Foundation! *** An extension of the deadline has recently been granted. As quoted from the TVHD CEO's Communiqué of 5February2007 "Several months ago, Aspen Street Architects, on our behalf, requested an extension of time from the SB1953 compliance deadline of 2008 for the opening of our new hospital. OSHPD noted in their letter: “Having reviewed the information provided, it is clear that the loss of Tehachapi Hospital will result in a loss of health care capacity. Based upon your request and the Compliance Plans (to build a new hospital) submitted to the Office, Tehachapi Hospital is granted an extension to January 1, 2013.” Though this extension allows us some extra time to complete the project, it continues to be the position of Administration and the Board of Directors to build the new hospital as soon as possible." |
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