HCAI says about $60 million available for seismic upgrades at small, rural hospitals

The Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) told attendees at a webinar that about $60,000,000 is available to help small and rural hospitals pay for seismic resiliency work and that applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

"We've got $60,000,000 that we're really trying to get out the door as quickly as possible to help small and rural hospitals and their seismic work," said Dean O'Brien, acting deputy director for the Office of Health Facility Loan Insurance, Cal Mortgage Loan Insurance Program, during the one‑hour presentation.

The program combines roughly $2.6 million per year derived from an excise tax fund referenced in the presentation as “395” with a recent one‑time allocation of about $50,000,000, the presenters said. The program was amended under AB 869 to expand eligibility and clarify qualifying project types, they added.

HCAI staff described which hospitals qualify and what projects the grant will reimburse. Ali Sumer, supervisor of the Seismic Compliance Unit, said a "small hospital" is defined in the program as 50 beds or fewer. Rural status is determined by either an MSSA (Medicare Service Study Area) designation or the older Health and Safety Code 1250 definition; critical access hospitals qualify by virtue of their CMS designation, the presenters said.

Eligible activities are grouped into three phases: evaluation (including material testing and condition assessment, described in the…