The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State of California has a compelling interest in ensuring that adequate health facilities that are able to withstand seismic events are available to care for patients, especially in the event of a disaster.
(b) Hospitals are required, under the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 129675) of Part 7), to improve, or remove from acute care service, buildings that pose a significant safety risk of collapse and danger to the public by January 1, 2008.
(c) Hospitals are also required by that act to repair, rebuild, or remove from service, buildings that may not be repairable or functional following strong ground motion, by January 1, 2030.
(d) California hospitals should be enabled to participate in programs that provide financial assistance for hospital construction and retrofitting.
(e) The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development operates a HUD 242 loan insurance program, through which hospitals can access facility mortgage insurance and lower interest rates.
(f) As a condition for participating in the HUD 242 program, a hospital must have a state-commissioned or conducted feasibility study of a hospital construction project.
(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 825, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)