Proposition 3 would support UC children's hospitals
UC Davis
UC would gain $196 million in support of its five children's hospitals if voters approve Proposition 3 on the November ballot.
The Children's Hospital Bond Measure would make available a total of $980 million to pay for improvements to 13 children's hospitals including UC Davis Children's Hospital, University Children's Hospital at UC Irvine, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, UC San Diego's Infant Special Care Center and UC San Francisco Children's Hospital. Those five UC hospitals would receive 20 percent of the bond money. Each would be eligible to apply for $39 million in grants.
The bond measure sets criteria for eligibility to apply for the grants. A medical center must provide care to children who are eligible for governmental health insurance programs, underserved and uninsured children, and vulnerable pediatric patients. In addition, the hospital must promote pediatric teaching and research programs.
Proposition 3
What it does: Authorizes the sale of $980 million in bonds, to be repaid from the state's general fund, for construction, expansions, renovations and equipment purchases at children's hospitals.
Who benefits: 80 percent of the funds would go to eight private nonprofit children's hospitals; 20 percent is designated for UC's five children's hospitals.
Costs: Repayment of principal and interest over 30 years would total $2 billion – about $64 million per year or about $1.75 a year for each Californian.
Who supports: American Academy of Pediatrics - California, California Medical Association, California State Chamber of Commerce, Children's Specialty Care Coalition, California Hospital Association, Children's Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters of California, UC Regents, and others.
Who opposes: Lewis K. Uhler, president of the National Tax Limitation Committee; Ted Costa, president of People's Advocate; Jon Fleischman, publisher of Flashreport.org.
UC's children's hospitals fulfill all those requirements. Through a variety of programs and specialties, the five hospitals treated more than 19,000 patients last year and received 355,588 outpatient visits. Those patients are often among the sickest and most vulnerable, including critically ill newborns and children and babies afflicted with leukemia and other cancers, heart conditions and chronic diseases.
The university children's hospitals also support research centers addressing growing childhood health crises such as the M.I.N.D. Institute at UC Davis, which spearheads cutting-edge autism research, and UC San Francisco's Childhood Obesity Clinic. Each is a teaching hospital training California's future pediatricians and caregivers.
In 2004, 58 percent of California voters approved a $750 million bond measure for children's hospitals that earmarked $150 million for UC hospitals. That money is being used to fund capital projects at each of the hospitals and is expected to be used up by 2014.
Proponents of the 2008 bond measure point to the need for expanding services for infants and children as that population is expected to increase by 35 percent in the next two decades. In addition, children's hospitals need to purchase the latest medical technologies and equipment to provide the most up-to-date care.
Opponents argue that in these troubling economic times, California cannot afford to take on more debt. They argue that eventually taxpayers will shoulder the costs with higher taxes or cuts to funding for schools, parks and law enforcement.