SANTA ANA : City OKs Hospital’s Plans for Expansion
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Plans for a $2.5-million expansion of the obstetrics wing of Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center won approval this week from the City Council.
The expansion is aimed at attracting immigrants on Medi-Cal, who now make up 70% of those giving birth at the hospital, said Mike Hartman, the hospital’s chief executive officer. The increased patient load is expected to bring $300,000 a year.
“It’s tough out there in the health-care industry,” Hartman said. “The obstetrics market was a good one to address. Everyone is looking for a niche.”
Hartman said the hospital has been trying to attract Latina immigrants, legal and illegal, by hiring a full-time Spanish translator, for example.
Shortly after last year’s passage of Proposition 187, which would bar health benefits to illegal immigrants, the number of births at the hospital decreased. But those numbers now are back up.
“People no longer fear coming to the hospital,” he said. “Proposition 187 had some impact at the beginning, but now people see it’s business as usual.”
The courts are now deciding whether Proposition 187 is constitutional.
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