Hospital sued by neighbors

Six neighbors of Mission Hospital Laguna Beach are asking for $15 million in damages to compensate them for longtime activities they claim jeopardize their health and property values.

Will H. Gardenswartz, L. Reuben Gibney, Tawny Escobar, Judy Metez, Mike Blanchard and Anthony Sarris filed the complaint Oct. 9 against Mission and its parent St. Joseph Health System and as many as 50 unnamed defendants. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and injunctive relieve on their behalf and on the behalf of other residents living within a 1,500-foot radius of the hospital, which Mission acquired about three months ago.

“No one in this lawsuit is opposed to a hospital,” Gardenswartz said. “We just we want one that lives within the law and is a good neighbor. We are sacrificial lambs to the broader political goal of having an emergency room for Laguna’s seniors.”

Mission Hospital and St. Joseph Health System were served the same day with a copy of a summons regarding the Laguna Beach campus’ grounds and facility, according to a statement issued by hospital spokeswoman Kelsey Martinez.

“We are currently reviewing this document with our legal department. We have been and will continue to be available to our neighbors and the broader community to listen to concerns and answer questions. We appreciate the support of the city of Laguna Beach and the community at large during this time of transition.”

The hospital was operated by Adventist Health until July, when it was acquired by Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Some of the allegations in the suit go back eight years, and perhaps more.

“Adventist was in many ways the pinnacle of the problem,” Gardenswartz said.

“But I don’t care who the owner is. It is dilapidated. It’s noisy.”

Gardenswartz also is opposed to patients he believes are from the behavioral department wandering off-campus. He said he sees them at the bus stop.

“How do I know they are patients? “ Gardenswartz asked. “Oh, those bracelets on their wrists. It doesn’t take Monk to figure it out.”

The plaintiffs are asking for a preliminary and permanent injunction compelling the hospital and its agents to modernize the aged heating, ventilation and air conditioning plant so it emits no more noise than the “best of class” for a hospital the size of the Laguna Beach campus.

They want the hospital to cease all truck deliveries, the use of blowers, power washers, loud maintenance equipment and the trash compactor between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The plaintiffs also asked the court to require the removal of the MRI trailer from the premises or move it to a place where the noise is minimized.

“It needs to not to be in this [presently in a fire lane] location,” hospital Executive Vice President Michael Beck said. “We have been working with the city on that for a while.

“Oh, it will be relocated, yes, but the timing of that is kind of a domino effect. We would have liked to already have relocated it. It needs to be in a place that is properly permitted.”

The plaintiffs also asked the court to make the hospital limit the testing of emergency generators to the bare minimum required by law and to provide notice of scheduled tests, to cease un-permitted use of the hospital parking lots and to immediately adopt policies and procedures to see that patients being treated for antisocial behavioral illnesses are properly supervised and that their access to surrounding neighborhoods is curtailed.

Since Mission acquired the hospital, resident surveys have been conducted and assessment of health and plant needs, Beck said.

Estimates to upgrade the central plant, which includes heating, cooling and air conditioning systems, is estimated to cost between $4 million and $8 million.

Gardenswartz said it’s true the hospital inherited many of the problems from the Adventist ownership, but the neighbors want to see some action.

“To get the court order to make them stop the noise and clean up the mess, that order must be directed against the current operator,” said the plaintiffs’ Los Angeles attorney, Maxwell M. Blecher, well known for class-action suits.

“All of these things can be fixed,” Blecher said. “Closing the hospital would not be an acceptable solution.”

Blecher said he had not been contacted by the hospital as of Wednesday afternoon.

“We are still trying to figure out what it means, and what the scope is,” Beck said.