Loud, dirty SCMC temporary generators still running 24/7

Editor:

Here we are headed into the end of the year 2008. While many things have changed, one thing remains the same: the 'temporary' generators in the lower parking lot of South Coast Medical Center (SCMC) are still in place, operating 24/7.

We all know the hospital has had a tough year, but there is simply no excuse for not being able to maintain basic infrastructure. If it was truly important to get the chillers in the physical plant fixed, Adventist Health would have made it a priority and it would have been completed long ago. Instead, all we get are apology letters in response to letters like this, with the same tired promises to the nearby residents and City of Laguna Beach management that a fix will be 'coming soon'.

But before you know it, we'll be looping around to a year of repair work and the constant drone of the temporary generators. The sound buffer promised by SCMC turned out to be sheets of plywood leaned up against the fence that surrounds the generators. Hopefully the way SCMC maintains its infrastructure is not indicative of the level of care it provides to patients - but you have to wonder. Why would Adventist Health think they could ignore the complaints of neighbors and the requests of the City, and continue running these generators day and night for coming up on a year?

When cleaning the house, we've sadly gotten used to wiping off the dirty black film from the diesel exhaust that has been spewing from these generators every single day. All of us in the neighborhood, including children like our own 9-year-old son, have been breathing that same exhaust for almost a year.

With the pending sale of the hospital, I expect the current management to try to pass this problem off to the new owners, potentially resulting in more months of delay while new facilities engineers come up to speed. I certainly hope that will not be the case.

The time to get this issue resolved is long since past. It's time for the City and the management of SCMC to step up and take some real action, not more apologies, broken promises and delays.

Tony Sarris Laguna Beach