Here's an excerpt from a recent letter from David Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D. to Assembly Member Sally Lieber:

On behalf of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), I am writing to infonn you of our opposition to Assembly Bill 2966. This bill would create a new and costly state program by shifting the responsibility for hiring and managing inspectors of record (IORs) of hospital construction projects from individual hospitals to OSHPD.

While OSHPD actively works to improve its services and ensure the safety of California's hospital building inventory, there are currently safeguards in place to prevent incompetent or fraudulent behavior on part ofa hospital and project inspectors. The architects are required to make regular visits to the site and file verified reports on the progress of construction. OSHPD field staff monitors construction as well as the lOR and may issue a stop work order if they find the lOR is incompetent or inadequate. Additionally, there are also special inspectors that inspect work of a complex or critical nature, and testing labs that sample work and ensure quality of concrete, welds, etc.

Shifting the responsibility to hire, place and perfonn all the administrative functions to support the 600-700 laRs from the hospital to OSHPD will significantly increase administrative and personnel costs for the department. Additionally, the 600-700 new lOR contracts cannot be supported by the existing hospital application fee as required in the bill. This fee is set in statute at 2% of construction costs and currently produces enough revenue to support the existing program, and not the additional mandate.

 Click here to see the scanned copy of the letter!