REEDLEY – Sierra Kings Health Care District is on its way to achieving seismic compliance at Reedley Hospital, having reached a milestone that marks progress in what will be a years-long effort to meet state requirements.
SKHCD said in a press release on Feb. 26 that it submitted its Compliance Plan, due by March 1, to the California Department of Health Care Access and Information. Project Manager Amy Ford said in the press release that meeting the deadline has been a crucial step in Reedley Hospital’s quest for overall seismic compliance.
“It has been a cooperative effort between Sierra Kings and Adventist Health staff to find the right solutions for implementing these improvements,” Ford said. “It has allowed all of us to start visualizing what these improvements will actually look like, which is an important step to bringing a project to fruition.”
Seismic compliance
Despite low seismic activity in the Reedley area, all hospitals that provide general acute care in the state of California must meet certain Structural Performance Categories (SPCs) and Nonstructural Performance Categories (NPCs) by Jan. 1, 2030, in order to continue operating.
The state legislature passed these requirements following the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, as damage caused to hospitals led to hospital evacuations and casualties. Even though the likelihood of Reedley Hospital being hit with an earthquake is low, SKHCD must ensure the hospital can not only withstand an earthquake but can continue to operate even if access to water and electricity is cut off in the city.
SKHCD explained at a town hall in September 2025 that although Adventist Health now operates the Reedley Hospital, the district still owns the building and is responsible for the seismic compliance. SKHCD brought on Ford, a consultant with her company A Ford Project Development, LLC, to help the hospital meet milestones and eventually achieve full compliance.
Reedley Hospital safety
The compliance plan for Reedley Hospital submitted to HCAI included construction documents detailing the anchorage and bracing of all essential equipment and utility systems within critical care areas of the hospital, the press release said. These are NPC elements that will allow the hospital to access its communication systems, emergency power supply, fire alarms systems, emergency lighting equipment and more.
SKHCD said the compliance plan also included details of storage tanks that will be installed on the hospital campus to provide domestic water supply, sewage storage and fuel oil for the hospital in the event that the hospital loses access to major utilities.
Other work that will need done to the hospital includes the seismic retrofitting of four out of the campus’s 14 buildings in order to meet SPC requirements. SKHCD previously identified those buildings as the main hospital building, the generator shed, the mechanical building and the rec room/office addition.
Throughout the process, SKHCD has said that the long-term financial planning of the SKHCD Board of Directors has ensured that the district has a solid reserve fund balance to be able to pay for the seismic compliance work. SKHCD is also pursuing small rural hospital grants through the state to help offset costs, the press release said, and has already secured one grant.
SKHCD CEO Chinayera Black Hardaman said in the press release that the district is thrilled to continue its partnership with Adventist Health to provide reliable, quality health care to the community.
“We have witnessed the untimely forced closure of rural hospitals like ours throughout the state, so we are laser-focused on implementing strategies towards the longevity of our hospital,” Black Hardaman said.
