(SACRAMENTO)- The State Assembly voted yesterday to restore funding to California’s mobile field hospitals. Assembly Bill 1578 by Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona) allocates $2 million dollars to restore and refurbish three mobile field hospitals so that they are ready to deploy should an emergency happen.
“When a disaster strikes, nothing is more important than getting medical treatment to the injured as quickly as possible,” said Rodriguez. “We have been fortunate that a major disaster has not hit California, however we must be ready for when one does. The time to prepare for a disaster and restore these hospitals is now.”
Each field hospital is a complete 200 bed acute care hospital facility equipped with X-ray facilities, laboratories, pharmacy services and an oxygen concentration system. In the event of a disaster, mobile field hospitals may be deployed where needed to provide medical care to the injured or used as an extension to existing hospitals should they become overburdened.
The state purchased the three hospitals in 2007, however due to California’s budget crises, funding for the mobile field hospitals was eliminated in 2011. As a result, the hospitals have been left deteriorating in storage and are unable to be used if a disaster happens.
The measure will now go to the State Senate for consideration.
Assemblymember Rodriguez is Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Local Emergency Preparedness, and Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management. He represents the 52nd Assembly District which includes the cities of Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona and portions of unincorporated Fontana.