If everything falls in line as expected, revised plans for Southwest Healthcare System's long-delayed Temecula hospital project could be presented to the Planning Commission before the end of the year.

Stuart Fisk, a Temecula senior planner, said the company, which operates hospitals in Wildomar and Murrieta, has addressed most of the city's concerns with the plans it presented in June for a five-story, 140-bed hospital on Temecula Parkway.

Those plans, marked up and sent back to Southwest by city staff in July, were resubmitted in late August.

"At this point," Fisk said last week, "staff is in the process of reviewing that resubmittal. From what I've seen so far, it looks as though it's pretty complete."

If there are no problems uncovered, Fisk said the plans ---- the blueprints of the first phase of what will eventually be a 320-bed hospital ---- could go before the Temecula Planning Commission before the end of the year.

Although that might seem like a promising sign for a project that has been in the works since 2004,Temecula City Council members aren't doing cartwheels.

Mike Naggar, one of two council members who make up the health care subcommittee, said he was less than enthused.

"I'm kind of neutral on it," he said. "It would be nice if we had a commitment on when they are breaking ground. ... Until I see some meat on the bones ... I'm not that excited about a resubmittal."

Marc Miller, president of Southwest's parent company, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, hasn't said when the company plans to actually build a hospital in Temecula. The company, through its spokeswoman, has said it remains "fully committed" to the development of additional health care facilities in Temecula.

City officials have been told that Southwest plans to start work on the hospital in a few years.

Southwest's two existing Southwest County hospitals, Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta and Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, were targeted this year by health inspectors, and Southwest had to fight to retain its license and federal reimbursements for treating Medicare patients.

Naggar said that the city is no longer waiting with bated breath for Southwest's hospital project, which, just a couple of years ago, was regarded as essential to boost the number of beds in Southwest County, an area underserved by hospitals.

"We're not depending on this hospital company, per se. We're working to explore every single hospital possibility we can muster," he said. "(If) you really want to get excited, get excited about Loma Linda."

Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino announced in June that it is looking at building a hospital in Temecula to complement the services it will be offering at its under construction hospital in Murrieta.

Temecula Mayor Jeff Comerchero, the other member of the city's health care subcommittee, said that he is pleased to see Southwest's plans moving forward, but he said the city remains committed to bringing the city's residents the "highest level of health care in a quantity that suits our need."

"The current revised plan is one part of that puzzle; it is not, by any means, the entire puzzle," he said, adding that he's enthusiastic about the possibility of Loma Linda coming to town.

Talking about some of the technical details of Southwest's plans, Fisk said the company has slightly modified the blueprints that were approved by the city in 2008. For instance, the location for the loading dock has been moved and there are new spots for the building's generators and the place where oxygen tanks will be stored.

For the most part, the plans are the same, Fisk said, noting that there will be a medical office building, a cancer center and a rehabilitation building and, ultimately, 320 beds.

City officials have for years made boosting the number of hospital beds a priority.

The Temecula hospital, if it is ever built, would be one of five hospitals in the area. Two of the three hospitals are managed by Southwest. There also is a hospital in Sun City.

The fourth hospital, a 100-plus bed teaching hospital in Murrieta that will be run by Loma Linda University Medical Center, is expected to open in early 2011.

According to multiple studies, Southwest County has a severely below-average ratio of hospital beds to residents.

When all five hospitals are up and running, there will be about 700 hospital beds in the area, bringing Southwest County closer to the statewide ratio of 2 beds per 1,000 residents. The national ratio is nearly 3 beds per every 1,000 residents.

Call staff writer Aaron Claverie at 951-676-4315, ext. 2624.