Prop 4 for Children’s Hospitals

This year’s Proposition 4 is the smallest bond measure on the November ballot, but it is no less crucial for that. The $1.5 billion would go to improving the capacity, safety and equipment in a select number of crucial children’s hospitals across California. In both 2004 and 2008, voters approved similar measures for other hospitals and now the time has come out to add our own region’s Valley Children’s Hospital to the list.

These hospitals need this extra bit of money now because a growing percentage of their patients are on MediCal and the state reimburses hospitals for those services at one of the lowest rates in the country. At the same time, the deadline to renovate for new safety standards still looms in 2030 and the hospitals need this extra push to insure they can get it done. While a long-term solution would need to be an increase in MediCal payouts, this Proposition ensures that while the details of such a complicated overhaul are being worked out the children of the Central Valley, and the rest of the state, don’t suffer.