HCAI reviews hospital nonstructural seismic deadlines, launches A13 phased bracing process

Ali Sumer, supervisor of the Seismic Compliance Unit at the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), outlined state deadlines and practical guidance for hospital nonstructural seismic upgrades during a two‑hour HCAI webinar.

Sumer said the agency’s goal is “to prepare the hospitals and [to] design and construct to resist, insofar as practical, the forces generated by earthquake, gravity and winds,” and emphasized that the MPC rating system focuses on nonstructural systems that most affect a facility’s ability to provide care after an earthquake.

Why this matters: HCAI told hospitals it is enforcing near‑term administrative deadlines for nonstructural evaluations and multi‑year construction milestones tied to California code changes and AB 869. Facilities that do not meet staged submittal and permit deadlines risk being categorized as no longer providing general acute care in affected buildings, which changes compliance obligations and published facility status.

The presentation covered three main topics: how HCAI is tracking current SPC (structural) and MPC (nonstructural) inventories, the submission and reporting steps hospitals must use in the agency’s Seismic Compliance Plan portal, and a new advisory procedure (the “A13 guide”) for phased, above‑ceiling bracing intended to reduce operational disruption.

Inventory and current status HCAI staff reviewed its inventory numbers and said about 655 buildings remain classified SPC 2 and 38 are SPC 1, categories that require resolution before the structural deadline. On the nonstructural side, Sumer said MPC 4 and MPC 4d ratings are increasing as hospitals submit evaluations and retrofit work; he also reported 246 buildings classified MPC 3 and said “almost half” of the inventory is MPC 2. HCAI has reviewed thousands of evaluation reports and is…