Fifteen minutes earlier than Regional Medical Middle was set to re-open its doorways as a Stage II trauma heart as soon as once more, gold and blue heart-shaped confetti showered down on celebrants who had gathered Tuesday morning to mark Santa Clara County’s acquisition of the hospital.
It bookended an almost 14-month battle to protect entry to important life-saving care in East San Jose, after the hospital’s earlier homeowners, HCA Healthcare, introduced final February that they’d be shuttering its Stage II trauma heart, in addition to companies for stroke and cardiac sufferers.
Group advocates mounted a “Rescue Our Medical Care” marketing campaign by which they protested outdoors the hospital alongside McKee Highway and known as on Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta to intervene. In the meantime, county leaders urged the California Division of Public Well being to step in, arguing that the closures would worsen affected person outcomes and overload Valley Medical Middle — one among two Stage I trauma facilities within the county, which offer the best stage of care.
HCA, one of many largest for-profit hospital chains within the nation, ultimately amended its resolution and as an alternative opted to downgrade the trauma heart to a Stage III facility — a transfer that neighborhood members criticized as a result of it could go away the hospital with out an in-house trauma surgeon. The adjustments went into impact on Aug. 12, 2024.
Dr. Gloria Jiménez, who has labored at Regional Medical Middle for the final six years, volunteered to be the trauma surgeon on the very first shift when the doorways opened at midday.
“Walking through the hallways this morning, it was like coming home, seeing all the staff and feeling the energy and seeing all of you here to commemorate this momentous occasion,” Jiménez informed a crowd of medical professionals, county officers and different first responders who had gathered within the hospital’s essential foyer.
The $150 million acquisition of Regional Medical Middle will make the 258-bed hospital the fourth within the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare System, which is the second-largest county-owned well being and hospital system within the state. Together with the speedy restoration of the trauma heart and stroke and cardiac companies, the county mentioned it additionally plans on bringing again labor and supply, which ended on the hospital in 2020, and introducing new healthcare companies.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, who serves because the board’s president, known as the acquisition of the hospital “long overdue.”
“This should have happened a decade ago, because Regional Medical clients, so many of them are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, which our county is much better suited to work with this community,” he informed Bay Space Information Group. “That’s why I think this is so important that it finally happened. We have a lot of concerns about the future cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, but today we want to celebrate this momentous occasion.”
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County Supervisor Otto Lee hugs County Supervisor Betty Duong throughout a press convention at Regional Medical Middle in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
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County Supervisor Otto Lee hugs County Supervisor Betty Duong throughout a press convention at Regional Medical Middle in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
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East San Jose residents residing close to the hospital are virtually twice as more likely to not have medical health insurance in comparison with the remainder of the county, and about 40% of county residents enrolled in Medi-Cal — California’s identify for Medicaid, the federal low-income medical health insurance program — reside inside 5 miles of the hospital, in accordance with county officers.
Supervisor Betty Duong, who was part of the “Rescue Our Medical Care” marketing campaign final yr earlier than she was sworn into workplace on the finish of the yr, mentioned Tuesday was a “proud day for East San Jose.” Regional Medical Middle is in her district and she or he mentioned it’s “always been a part of the emergency healthcare plan” within the county.
“To be out there rallying on the sidewalk with my neighbors, with my colleagues, with fellow community health advocates and then to now be part of the leadership body that confirmed and affirmed our commitment to healthcare, it truly is a Santa Clara County story,” she informed Bay Space Information Group. “It’s a reflection of the will of the people where homegrown residents and neighbors become part of the decision-making process.”
Duong mentioned that she’s enthusiastic about what the county can do in collaboration with the neighborhood to raised the way forward for the hospital.
“What does healthcare look like when we want to build it in a truly culturally competent, language-accessible, patient-client-community-centered operation?” she mentioned.
County Govt James Williams known as the acquisition of Regional Medical Middle a “commitment to excellence and service.” Regardless of the potential federal challenges forward that might decimate the county’s funds, Williams mentioned that they knew making the funding was “necessary.”
“This is about providing opportunity to families who otherwise would go without, because this county organization on its 175th anniversary has once again stepped forward to the challenge of delivering excellence in service,” he mentioned. “Integrating Regional Medical Center into Santa Clara Valley Healthcare is about providing and delivering access to care, but it’s also about providing a vision for others to build upon across the Bay Area, across California and across the country — about what it means when we invest in excellence and public service as a community.”
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