Hospital hits LA County with lawsuit over trauma center funds

Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, Calif., has filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County and its board of supervisors, claiming the county has failed to properly allocate and administer billions of dollars of property tax revenue to trauma centers.

The 420-bed hospital claims it serves 5 percent of LA County's population, yet receives less than one-half of 1 percent of all Measure B funds annually. Measure B was approved by LA County voters several years ago and assesses taxes to provide funding for the expansion of the county's trauma centers and emergency medical services.

"Despite repeated reassurances from the county that AVH would receive its fair share of funding, our hospital has been all but forgotten by the county — in favor of those hospitals that are closer to the county seat," said Pavel Petrik, MD, chair of the department of surgery and trauma medical director at AVH.

AVH is reimbursed slightly more than $1 million per year; however, using other non-county trauma hospitals as a benchmark, AVH claims it should be receiving at least $12 million a year in Measure B funds.

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