Kaweah Delta Lobbies To Retain Mineral King Hospital Wing
In a meeting with Visalia city officials March 26,Kaweah Delta CEO Lindsay Mann made it clear they have not given up on retaining the existing Mineral King wing of the hospital long-term,despite state seismic rules. Visalia Mayor Steve Nelson says the hospital presented seismic studies to show they ought to be granted a waiver of state rules to meet the 2030 deadline.
KD board member Jody Graves says keeping this building is important “just to retain the investment and rooms we already have rather than building space just to replace it.”
The hospital has been lobbying the state to allow a waiver with Graves adding ”we are not the same as the mud flats of the Bay Area or the shaky ground around Northridge” that spurred the rules.
Lindsay Mann says hospital officials and Visalia city manager Mike Olmos will meet with state officials April 16 to plead their case.
‘The seismic risk under this well-built building is radically different than urban areas on the Coast “says Mann. Rules require the risk be at a 0.75 level and the land under the Mineral King wing is under 0.1, he says.
If they can’t get a favorable ruling in the next year and a half “we need to start work on what could be a half billion dollar replacement complex” adds Mann.