San Jose community leaders are denouncing HCA Healthcare’s plan to expand a local hospital on the city’s west side while degrading care at East Side Regional Medical Center.
In February, HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest for-profit health care companies, announced it would close the trauma center at Regional Medical Center on Aug. 12 and downgrade other lifesaving programs. But last week, the company reversed its decision and said it would instead downgrade the trauma center from Level II to Level III. East San Jose leaders criticized the plan, however, saying it still wasn’t enough.
On Wednesday night, residents continued to protest outside the hospital, this time to protest HCA’s decision to expand Good Samaritan Hospital just 14 miles away in a more affluent part of town. The project, which is being built to comply with state seismic regulations, includes two new hospital wings that will increase the number of beds from 404 to 419.
San Jose City Councilman Peter Ortiz, who represents the district that includes the regional medical center, said he is concerned that HCA is asking the city for support for the expansion while cutting medical services that will have a significant impact on Latino and Vietnamese immigrant families.
“It shouldn’t be a story of two hospitals,” Ortiz said. “There shouldn’t be one hospital in East San Jose and one in West San Jose. We should have one medical system that serves our entire city equally.”
A regional medical center official said in a statement that Good Samaritan Hospital began “the process of complying with California’s 2030 seismic standards three years ago.”
“Funding for these state-mandated improvements is not optional and does not impact any other hospital’s decisions or investments,” the official said. “Furthermore, the changes to Regional Medical Center’s services are designed to meet the changing needs of our patients and demonstrate our continued commitment to the East San Jose community.”
But Darcie Green, CEO of the nonprofit Latina Contra Cancer, said community members who have been rallying outside the hospital for the past eight weeks will continue to push for better care. Green said that despite being at the Regional Medical Center, they have yet to meet with hospital management. A meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was abruptly canceled.
“We will occupy this lawn for as many weeks as it takes to demand the best health care for the residents of East San Jose and the best health care in this facility for all residents of the county because we deserve it, it’s our human right and they have the power to do it,” Green said.
