Sacramento, CA- Assemblymember Hector De La Torre’s (D- South Gate) Assembly Bill 10 passed the Assembly with a 55-11 bipartisan vote.  The measure will create the Children’s Hospital Bond Act of 2008, a statewide bond issue dedicated for capital expenditures for children’s hospitals.

If adopted by voters, the bond would provide $980 million in funds dedicated to facilities and equipment for California’s children’s hospitals. 

There are13 children’s hospitals statewide, including eight private not-for-profit hospitals and five University of California-affiliated facilities.  These hospitals serve as regional, tertiary care centers providing services to the most seriously ill and injured children in California.  Children’s hospitals are an integral part of California’s pediatric health care safety net, caring for the majority of the state’s uninsured, Medi-Cal and Healthy Families children.

Children’s Hospitals provide approximately 1.5 million outpatient visits and 1 million inpatient visits each year, according to the California Children’s Hospital Association.  Of these visits, over 50 percent of them are from Medi-Cal children.   

“Without continued capital investments in medical equipment and facilities, children’s hospitals will reach a time in the near future when they simply cannot match the needs of California’s growing population of children,” stated Assemblymember De La Torre. 

“When our children are terribly sick, or hurt, we want the very best care for them,” said Children’s Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Richard D. Cordova. “Children’s hospitals in this state save lives; many children are cured and countless others have their young lives extended for many years.”