Desert Healthcare District in need of state aid to meet Seismic Retrofitting Deadline
In an update to a News Channel 3 I-Team investigation, public hospitals throughout California are still hoping to get money from the state ahead of the 2030 seismic retrofitting deadline.
As we reported, in the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, state lawmakers enacted a bill, requiring all California hospitals to build new facilities or complete a retrofit to remain fully operational in the event of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.
Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs is one of dozens of hospitals in the state that need to be retrofitted and in need of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for it.
If hospitals do not meet the deadline, officials worry they could be shut down.
The Desert Healthcare District, which owns Desert Regional, had hoped lawmakers would provide a billion dollars from the state budget by the end of this year to help hospitals meet the deadline. Since that did not happen, the hope is the money gets approved in the new year ahead.
Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.
