Kern LAFCO approves East Kern Healthcare District sphere of influence, annexation and MSR; protest hearing to follow

The Kern Local Agency Formation Commission on Sept. 17 approved a package of actions to expand the East Kern Healthcare District to encompass Ridgecrest and Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, clearing the way for a formal annexation process but preserving the public''s right to file protests.

The commission voted to approve the sphere of influence amendment for East Kern Healthcare District (agenda item 18-37), to approve annexation number 18-38 to bring roughly the area that includes Ridgecrest and the hospital into the district, and to adopt the municipal service review (agenda item 18-39). All three items passed by roll-call vote.

The measures are intended to let the nonprofit Ridgecrest Regional Hospital seek improved reimbursement and funding streams available to a district-operated hospital, while also providing a path for local residents in the annexation area to vote for district board members.

Executive Officer Mark Knox told the commission the request began in March 2023 after Ridgecrest Regional Hospital accumulated pandemic-era debt and sought mechanisms to stabilize its finances. Knox said district and hospital leaders arrived at an approach that would expand East Kern Healthcare District'which currently owns leased health-care properties and has limited staffing'to include Ridgecrest and the hospital facilities. He described a revised concept in which the hospital would retain facility ownership, the district would become the licensed operator and the hospital would operate services under a…