Earthquakes pose extra threat to hospital

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The Newport-Inglewood fault better not act up any

time soon.

Ten of Hoag Hospital’s 27 buildings would “pose a significant risk of

collapse and danger to the public after a strong earthquake,” according

to a state report released this week.

Hoag by far exceeds any other Orange County hospital in its number of

buildings and it tops the list in terms of the amount of buildings rated

as unsafe.

But hospital officials said Thursday that the Office of Statewide

Health Planning and Development had done the public a disservice by

releasing the data the way it did.

“If [a building] is not a pure, rectangular box, it automatically puts

you in [the unsafe category],” said Pete Foulke, an executive vice

president with the hospital.

The data “is not really reflective of what is the status of any given

building,” Foulke said, adding that Hoag’s architects and structural

engineers had assured him that most of the 10 buildings would not be in

danger of collapsing. Following the state’s directions, hospitals

submitted the rankings themselves.

Hoag’s 1974 nursing tower is included in the list of buildings that

don’t comply with the law. Newer structures, such as the cancer center,

fulfill the law’s requirements but could “not be repairable or

functional” after a major earthquake, according to the state.

The hospital’s emergency room, radiology waiting room, power plant and

emergency generators are likely to stay up and running after an

earthquake, Foulke said.

The definition of a major earthquake is different for every hospital,

depending on the ground it stands on, as well as the proximity to a

fault. Foulke said that he didn’t know Hoag’s earthquake definition, but

state officials have given a Richter Scale reading of 6.0 to 6.9 as a

ballpark figure. Hoag sits extremely close to the Newport-Inglewood fault

line, which drops into the ocean at Newport Bay.

State law requires that hospital officials fix the problems by 2008 or

remove the buildings from acute care service.

While hospital construction in California has been regulated since

1973, the 1994 Northridge earthquake provoked legislation requiring

hospitals to be virtually earthquake resistant by 2030.

Foulke said Hoag will spend about $30 million to retrofit buildings

with shock absorbers, which bring irregularly-shaped buildings in

compliance with the law.

The money will also pay for work on the hospital’s nonstructural

features, which need to fulfill the state’s earthquake safety

requirements by 2002. Hospital officials said they’ll have that work

completed by the end of the year.

While the new law didn’t bring about Hoag’s $100-million Women’s

Pavilion project -- a new hospital tower expected to open in 2004 -- the

latest earthquake safety regulations shaped the design of the building,

officials said.

The seven-story tower will also allow hospital officials to move

patient care units from noncompliance buildings and use those for

offices, Foulke said.

Hoag’s building ratings

Nonrated buildings are not used for patient care and therefore do not

have to follow the same regulations.

* Structural ratings -- this covers buildings:

Not rated: 8

Unsafe: 10 Comply with law, but may no longer be functional after an earthquake:

5

Comply with law, but may need repairs after an earthquake: 2

Comply with law and likely to stay open following an earthquake: 2

* Nonstructural ratings -- this covers communications, emergency

supplies, bulk medical gas, fire alarms and emergency lighting.

Not rated: 8

Work needs to be done to anchor and brace nonstructural features by

2002: 19