By Tiffany Stecker, The Daily Transcript

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Health care availability and affordability, crucial components to the economy in North County, were examined and discussed as members of the health care community met at the monthly North San Diego Economic Development Council economic outlook meeting.

The June installment of the series, which focuses on a different cluster of the North County economy every month, invited discussion on health care in the area. Representatives from BIOCOM, the nonprofit North County Health Services, and Benefits Matrix, LLC, a professional financial services firm, were present.

"We've identified 12 business clusters that dominate in the North County, and health care sits right at the top," said Gary Knight, CEO of the North San Diego EDC.

North County is home to two major hospitals: Tri-City and Palomar-Pomerado, both in the county's ranking of top 10 employers. Voters approved a $1 billion plan last year for the Palomar-Pomerado health district to build a hospital in Escondido, along with five to six satellite health centers. Construction is expected to begin in two to three years.

The Tri-City hospital in Oceanside could be subject to a $596 million renovation and expansion project, pending Tuesday's election.

The replacement of older hospital wards and increased efficiency of new expansions will, hopefully, maintain our health care costs by improving operating costs, according to Knight.

"The cost should remain the same. There's a general increase (in costs) hopefully, the operational efficiency will suffice," Knight said.

The rate of increase for health care in the past few years has more than doubled, according to Noel Trias, managing director of Benefits Matrix. These increases have created a need for alternatives to traditional employer benefit health plans, like Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

These plans give employees a savings budget to pay, with debit card, out-of-pocket expenses. The high deductibles lower costs to employers about 50 percent, said Trias.

"Employees are acting more like consumers now, where they're making decisions," said Trias.

There are close to 390,000 uninsured San Diego County residents, approximately 94,000 of which are children, according to North County Health Services CEO Irma Cota.

The 2006 North County Economic Outlook states that the growing population in North County and aging baby boomers will drive growth in health care in the region.

Cota said there is a need for a "health care campus," a community where professionals can work with colleagues and share resources through smaller medical centers, to consolidate services easily as population grows in North County.

"We have to think of population growth 20, 30, 40 years down the line," she said.

The opening of the Cal State San Marcos nursing school will add to the supply of health resources in North County.