A crew placed a modular component at Aurora Vista del Mar Hospital on April 20 to replace the administration building lost in the Thomas Fire on Dec. 4. The singed Mexican fan palms serve as a reminder of the blaze’s intensity.

On the night of Dec. 4, the Thomas Fire razed two key structures at Aurora Vista del Mar Hospital – a behavioral health facility just north of Ventura. For nearly four months, 75 percent of Ventura County’s psychiatric beds, and a large proportion of its psychiatric outpatient services, were shut down.

With the facility offline, area behavioral health directors saw more adolescents in crisis – including cases with serious outcomes.

“It’s a delicate matter, but it’s reality,” Aurora Vista del Mar CEO Jenifer Nyhuis said. “This is the reason we moved so fast to reopen. Our motto is, ‘Every day matters.’”

Working with HASC and the California Hospital Association, California Assembly member Monique Limón introduced AB 417, which created a temporary exemption in state licensing regulations for the facility. Signed by the governor on March 23, the exemption allowed Aurora Vista del Mar to reopen outpatient services at an offsite location in Ventura, about four miles south of the main campus.

HASC Regional Vice President Audra Strickland and CHA staff communicated with the governor’s office and California’s Department of Public Health. There was no way to waive regulations that tie outpatient licensure to the inpatient license, officials said. A custom legislative fix for Aurora Vista was the only option.

Limón’s bill advanced rapidly and passed with bipartisan support.

Hospital planners had hoped to reopen beds by the end of May, but are now aiming for July due to the realities of construction permits and “getting all the utilities online,” Nyhuis explained.

When it reopens, the number of beds onsite will be 55 — compared to the pre-fire number of 87. Outpatient services will remain at the temporary site for two or three more years.

Current plans call for additional construction to restore, and perhaps increase, the hospital’s pre-fire capacity.

“We plan to rebuild the structures destroyed in the fire to regain, and potentially increase, the number of inpatient beds,” Nyhuis said. “The process is projected to take at least two years.”

Contact:
Audra Strickland
(805) 679-1717
astrickland@hasc.org