California Hospitals Deemed Seismically Unstable

State and hospital officials have found significant structural weaknesses in more than 20 hospital buildings throughout California. More than a dozen of the seismic targets are located in Southern California. 

At the same time, officials have neglected steps to inform the public about the safety issues and have forgone plans to identify more potentially dangerous sites.

The hospitals in question have significant risks of crumbling during an earthquake. The Hollywood Community Hospital of Hollywood ranks in the top 5 riskiest hospitals, retaining a little more than 20 percent chance of collapse during an earthquake.

Risk percentages were determined by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and included factors like structure strength, distance from a fault line and expected ground motion in a major seismic event.

Despite little public notice, the state has mandated that the hospitals be retrofitted or replaced in anticipation of seismic events. If the hospitals in question cannot fulfill the safety requirements, they must remove patients by 2013 or 2015. California Watch reported that only six of the hospitals had submitted plans for update by last month.

California Watch is releasing a report this weekend with a more inclusive list of hospitals.

Initial List of Risky Hospitals

Facility	City	Building I	Collapse Risk
Kindred Hospital Ontario	Ontario	Building I	31.75%
Citrus Valley Medical Center - QV Campus	West Covina	Main Building	30.36%
Kindred Hospital - San Francisco Bay Area	San Leandro	Original Building	23.62%
Hollywood Community Hospital of Hollywood	Hollywood	Original Building	20.55%
St. Mary's Medical Center San Francisco	San Francisco	McAuley Wing	17.37%
Beverly Hospital	Montebello	Main/Utility/Tower (Block VI)	15.48%
San Francisco General Hospital	San Francisco	Main Hospital	14.47%
California Hospital Medical Center - Los Angeles	Los Angeles	1964 Tower	13.20%
Kindred Hospital - Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Original Building - Building I	12.89%
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center	Glendale	Juncture Building	12.62%
Brotman Medical Center	Culver City	Pavilion	10.70%
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center	Long Beach	1A -1K Main Tower & Additions	9.81%
John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus	Concord	Elevator/Stair Tower	9.74%
Citrus Valley Medical Center - QV Campus	West Covina	South Wing Addition	9.45%
Eisenhower Medical Center	Rancho Mirage	Eisenhower Wing (North)	9.45%
Eisenhower Medical Center	Rancho Mirage	Eisenhower Wing (South)	9.45%
Little Company of Mary - San Pedro Hospital	San Pedro	Central Wing Tower	9.03%
Centinela Hospital Medical Center	Inglewood	West Tower	8.47%
Huntington Memorial Hospital	Pasadena	Valentine Building	8.24%
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center	Glendale	Original Building	7.86%
Little Company of Mary - San Pedro Hospital	San Pedro	West Wing & Entrance Canopy	7.80%
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center	Glendale	1942 Building	7.47%

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