Dallas-Based Health
Group Withdraws Interest
In Reopening Scripps
Steve A. Escoboza was appointed interim director of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, the county announced June 19.
Escoboza will be working closely with Dr. Robert Ross, who has been the county’s health director for the past seven years.
Ross said recently he’ll head The California Foundation in Woodland Hills starting July 14.
Escoboza has a 30-year background in government.
He served as the county’s assistant director of health and assistant director of personnel from 1985 to 1992.
He was also director of Santa Barbara County’s Health Department and president and chief executive office of Los Angeles County’s Community Health Plan.
In 1999, Escoboza returned to San Diego County to oversee several health programs, including the Access to Healthcare Initiative.
The program aimed to provide health insurance to the county’s indigent was adopted June 13 by the county Board of Supervisors.
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Shattered Hopes: The withdrawal of a Texas-based suitor for the purchase of Scripps Memorial Hospital East County has put a damper on hopes that the El Cajon facility will be reopened soon.
Dallas-based Paragon Health Resources which had been working with Scripps to reopen the hospital, announced in a memorandum to East County Supervisor Dianne Jacob it couldn’t find a company interested in reopening the hospital.
Paragon president Bruce Stewart cited in his June 21 memo an historical lack of support for the hospital by doctors and community members and $1 million in costs to reopen the facility.
Supervisor Jacob said she is disappointed about the withdrawal, but hasn’t given up hope the hospital will find a buyer.
“I am cautiously optimistic somewhere, some way there is someone out there that has an interest in East County,” Jacob said.
Jacob charged the deal fell through in part because Scripps refused to keep the facility open after giving East County a 90-day notice to close the facility.
Jacob credited Scripps with keeping the equipment intact and suspending the license to facilitate the transfer of ownership.
Still, she faulted Scripps officials for their lack of support in finding a better solution.
“If they were truly interested in working with the people of East County they would have given us more notice,” she said. “That was a slap in the face.”
Scripps was closed June 4 following a three-month battle to save the financially troubled facility. Separately, Jacob announced June 20 the Board of Supervisors approved her proposal to create a public education campaign to keep non-emergency cases out of the ER.
Some 60 percent to 80 percent of the 2,500 San Diegans treated in the region’s emergency rooms every day are not true emergencies, according to Jacob.
“Today’s action is a first step to begin bringing together hospitals, doctors, community clinics, fire and emergency service agencies, and health plans to get the word out that emergency rooms are not the place to go for primary health care needs,” Jacob said.
No tax money will be used to fund the campaign, a spokeswoman said earlier.
Report Cards: For two consecutive years, the city of Del Mar has failed to keep cigarettes out of the hands of children, according to the American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
The association graded 18 local cities and the county of San Diego on their ordinances, the enforcement of provisions, and the regulation of tobacco advertisement.
The report was made public on June 21.
Del Mar got the only F for not having any ordinances, according to the association.
Encinitas, Escondido, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Santee and San Diego County received a D for not doing enough to protect children from tobacco use.
Solana Beach and Imperial Beach earned C’s; National City, Coronado, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Poway and Vista earned B’s.
The cities of San Marcos and San Diego got perfect scores for adopting measures to protect youth from tobacco use.
That includes eliminating vending machines and limiting ads.
Still, more needs to be done, said Diane Levine, a spokeswoman for the association.
She said the association is talking to city attorneys and council members to further restrict youths’ access to cigarettes.
The Journal of Public Health reported that 29 million packs of cigarettes are sold to minors every year.
Send health care news to Webb at mwebb@sdbj.com.
Scripps Reunites Resources; Forms One Larges System
Scripps Health and Scripps Clinic announced June 27 they struck an agreement to reaffiliate.
The deal will make Scripps the largest health care system in San Diego County with 10,000 employees and affiliated providers.
The venture adds 11 clinic locations to Scripps Health’s five hospitals, according to Scripps.
Scripps Health’s agreement to pay the clinic’s debt loan has drawn criticism from some doctors who charge public funds shouldn’t be diverted to a private clinic.
Robin Liszewski, a Scripps Health spokeswoman, refutes the charge, saying the money will benefit patient care, ease access to Scripps and boost research efforts.
