Opinion: The Biggest Self-Inflicted Wound

The prognosis for El Dorado County and the City of South Lake Tahoe isn't looking good. Sacramento's unfunded seismic retrofit requirements for hospitals have forced Barton Health to make a bitter pill of a decision: relocate its main hospital to Nevada, while keeping some services on life support in California.

This move, while not a complete flatline for our local economy, still poses significant challenges for South Lake Tahoe. Barton isn't just any employer; it's the city's largest and one of the few with well-paid professional jobs not tied to the tourism sector. This partial amputation will have notable economic side effects. The financial impact will be felt directly and indirectly - as these jobs move, payroll taxes will decrease and foot traffic from employees, patients and their families will cause side effects at local businesses near the Y. Many businesses on the West side of town cited a decline in foot traffic when Measure T was passed; that will be dwarfed by the loss of business this time around. I’d be surprised if the net present value of the economic losses isn’t significantly greater than the incremental cost of giving Barton the money to construct in California.

Barton's dual-campus strategy, aiming to maintain outpatient services in South Lake Tahoe while building a new hospital in Stateline, Nevada, shows they're not completely pulling the plug on our community. However, this compromise, necessitated by California's shortsighted policies, still results in a net loss that's hard to swallow.

What's particularly nauseating is the deafening silence from our elected officials and unions. Our county, state, and federal politicians have done little to prevent this partial exodus, seemingly suffering from a severe case of political paralysis. The nurses' union has been practically mute.

Here's where the diagnosis gets even grimmer: over time, employees will be incentivized to move to Carson City or Gardnerville to work at the new location. The commute from these towns will be about the same as from Meyers or Christmas Valley but with the added bonus of lower taxes. The resulting brain drain and loss of well-paid, full-time residents from these communities will reverberate throughout the housing market and local businesses.

Dr. Clint Purvance, President & CEO of Barton Health, has tried to sugarcoat the pill, stating, "As we build in Nevada, Barton remains committed to California, and will continue to have robust services in both Stateline and South Lake Tahoe". While this commitment is admirable, it doesn't cure the economic ailments California's policies have caused.

California has managed to shoot itself in the foot yet again, and just like virtually every town that borders Arizona or Nevada, the California side (in this case the City of South Lake Tahoe) is the one limping. In trying to ensure hospitals can withstand earthquakes, California has instead shaken the very foundation of our local economy. It's a textbook case of the cure being worse than the disease. This self-inflicted wound will take more than a band-aid to heal. While we can appreciate Barton's efforts to maintain services on both sides of the state line, we must also recognize that this compromise was forced by myopic policy.

The health of our cities depends not just on access to medical care, but also on the economic vitality that institutions like Barton bring. It's time for California to take a more holistic approach to healthcare policy - one that considers not just seismic safety, but also the economic tremors that can result from unfunded mandates. Otherwise, we might find ourselves in need of more than just a second opinion – we'll need a full-scale economic resuscitation. I call on newly elected State Representative Heather Hadwick, State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil and Congressman Kevin Kiley to take this issue head on. There’s still time to find the money or incentives to keep Barton’s hospital and their jobs in the City of South Lake Tahoe (or simply exempt Barton from the mandate). As is often the case, prevention is the best medicine, and much cheaper than treating disease.

- Seth Dallob