Today, the County of Santa Clara announced a preliminary agreement to acquire Regional Medical Center in San Jose to save essential healthcare services in one of the Valley’s highest-need communities. This action is unambiguously good news for the health and safety of every Santa Clara County resident and a triumph of prudent future planning by our county government.
But it’s also a warning of what might have been and what still can be if we don’t seize this opportunity to secure our public healthcare system for generations to come.
Consider our recent history. It’s been just over 20 years since Santa Clara County lost a hospital when San Jose Medical Center closed its doors for good. That closure had significant impacts, nearly doubling emergency department visits at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and requiring the voters to step in with funds for a new Downtown San Jose health center.
It took a decade and a half for the next shoe to drop when the owners of O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy filed for bankruptcy. Fortunately, the County of Santa Clara took bold and unprecedented action to save those hospitals, strategically and efficiently integrating them into the public system we now know as Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (and in the process, improving quality, access, and safety for all patients). The timing could not have been more fortuitous. The COVID-19 pandemic struck within a year, making the ICU and emergency beds at all three hospitals vital to our regional response.
Regional Medical Center was also struggling, having recently downgraded trauma, heart, and stroke services. Once again, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare has stepped up for the safety of the community.
But what if that wasn’t possible? Let’s imagine an alternate reality where O’Connor, St. Louise, and Regional succumb to market forces and close. In this world, there would be no hospital in Santa Clara County east of Highway 101. Gilroy, San Martin, and Morgan Hill residents would be forced to travel as much as 25 miles to the nearest emergency department. San Jose, the largest city in Northern California, would have just Santa Clara Valley Medical Center within a massive radius that extended from Highway 237 in the north to Highway 85 in the south. This isn’t just a crisis for the most vulnerable in our community – it’s a fundamental breakdown of the entire healthcare delivery system we ALL depend upon.
We can all sigh with relief that we don’t face that scenario today.
But here’s the warning – we can’t afford not to get this right. Without question, the 1.8 million+ residents of this County are now counting on Santa Clara Valley Healthcare as the backbone for emergency and trauma for the entire area. For residents of East San Jose, restoring labor and delivery, stroke, cardiac, and trauma services is an urgent priority. For the existing staff of Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, who have worked tirelessly through a pandemic and more, this will require new levels of stamina. VHF has always believed that it takes all of us working together to maintain our local healthcare safety net. Today, that job has become all the more critical. In the coming days and weeks, we’ll share more about how you can help during this historic moment. To make a gift or to sign-up to get updates on the Regional Medical Center acquisition, click here.
