Hospital waits to buy equipment

By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Reporter

As UCLA Medical Center officials wait to move into the new
facility in 2005, they have delayed making large equipment
purchases, despite increases in patient traffic over the past five
years.

Chief financial officer for the Medical Center, Sergio Melgar,
said they are still purchasing “essential” equipment
such as operating room equipment, and the lull in purchases has not
affected patient care.

“It doesn’t make sense to be spending a lot of money
on system equipment that won’t fit in the new hospital,
either because there isn’t enough space or because they
can’t be moved,” Melgar said.

Since 1998, outpatient visits to the hospital have increased
186,000 but this year, the hospital spent about $10 million less
toward equipment purchases than it did then.

Melgar said purchase costs fluctuate from year to year, noting
that a spike in funding in 1999 was used toward large purchases to
offset increases in patient traffic.

Melgar added that the hospital is continually replacing
equipment that is broken and that all the equipment at the hospital
is already of the highest quality ““ and has not affected
UCLA’s rank in U.S. News & World Report as the best
hospital in the western United States.

The hospital has taken increases in outpatient traffic into
account and have made necessary budget adjustments to retain
quality, he said.

“If we need to make large purchases, we have the funds in
place to do so,” Melgar said.

The hospital has sufficient funding to make purchases now,
Melgar said, adding that the hospital expects surplus donations for
the new hospital though a fickle economy can change that.

Dr. Jimmy Huang of Radiology, said that even in his technology
intensive area, he hasn’t noticed any equipment shortage or
lack of upgrading. Other doctors approached declined to
comment.