Health facilities: seismic safety.

Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973. Existing law authorizes the office to assess an application fee for the review of facilities' design and construction, and requires that full and complete plans be submitted to the office for review and approval. Existing law requires that, after January 1, 2008, any general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or pose significant loss of life be used only for nonacute care hospital purposes, except that the office may grant an extension under prescribed circumstances. Existing law allows certain hospital owners who do not have the financial capacity to bring certain buildings into compliance by 2013 to, instead, replace those buildings by January 1, 2020. This bill would require a health care district that has been denied an extension of the seismic retrofit and replacement deadlines to make a specified report to the office, on or before March 1, 2010. Because this bill would impose additional duties upon local officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.