Brown Signed Assemblyman
Obernolte’s Bill
Assembly Bill 232 preserves healthcare access
for residents in Tehachapi, California
Jay Obernole is a business owner of Farsight Studios in Big Bear Lake, California
Sacramento, California___ Wednesday October 7th, Governor Jerry
Brown signed Assembly Bill 232 authored by Assemblyman Jay Obernolte
(R-Hesperia), which would allow the only Critical
Access Hospital in the City of Tehachapi to reinstate its seismic safety
extension application and remain open.
“AB 232 solves a critical and time-sensitive
problem for the City of Tehachapi,” Assemblyman Obernolte said. “It will give that hospital an extension to
comply with the seismic mandate, until they can move into their new facility,
which will preserve health care access for this community.”
California law
requires all hospitals to seismically retrofit their hospital buildings by
specified deadlines. To meet this seismic mandate, some California hospitals have
chosen to retrofit existing hospital buildings, while others have found it more
feasible to build entirely new hospitals.
Tehachapi Valley
District Hospital chose to build a brand new facility to comply with the
state’s seismic mandate. The new hospital was slated to open before the end of
the year, but due to construction delays, it is now not expected to be
completed until sometime next year. Unfortunately, the hospital had not
submitted an application for a seismic safety extension and, therefore, without
this legislation would not be able to continue to operate its existing hospital
buildings beyond January 1, 2016.
NOTE: This is the sixth
Bill Assemblyman Obernolte, of the 33rd Assembly District, has
had signed by the Governor this Legislative Session.