Health-Care Forum Raises Only Questions

The role of government in health care, the increasing number of uninsured patients and acompetition among local hospitals were supposed to be the chief topics of discussion at the county’s second health-care forum held in Camarillo on Thursday.

But the more than three dozen doctors, hospital administrators and other health officials who participated in the forum spent more time posing questions than talking about specific problems and solutions.

In fact, the group never touched directly on the issue that prompted each of the forums in the first place: the ongoing feud between Ventura County Medical Center and its nonprofit rival Community Memorial Hospital, which has accused the county in court and at the ballot box of trying to lure its patients away by expanding its operations.

Laura Dahlgren, spokeswoman for the Community Memorial-sponsored group Taxpayers for Quality Health Care, said the question that forum members should address is whether the tax-supported county hospital should continue as a health-care provider or follow the trend of other counties and contract for services.

But Supervisor Judy Mikels, who represented the county at the meeting, said the group’s discussion should be much broader. She said it should also cover what role and responsibility nonprofit private hospitals like Community Memorial have in serving the uninsured and underinsured populations.

After 2 1/2 hours, the only thing the group could agree on was to meet again at a later date to discuss these and other health-care issues further.