Mark's Notebook

Report urges 6-month delay for hospital closing

San Jose Mercury News

By April Lynch

The imminent closing of San Jose Medical Center should be postponed until June to limit the health care difficulties that are likely to follow, according a report released Tuesday.

Emergency room patients, trauma victims and senior citizens living near San Jose's downtown will be among the groups hit hardest when the hospital closes its doors Dec. 9, the report found.

HCA officials did not respond to calls seeking comment Tuesday. But the for-profit company has given no indication of delaying San Jose Medical Center's closing, and local officials and residents don't expect the hospital to keep its doors open longer.

The company has focused on plans to expand Regional Medical Center of San Jose, another hospital it owns about two miles away. HCA has also proposed moving San Jose Medical Center's trauma center to Regional, but county officials have final say over those plans and are not rushing their review.

San Jose Medical Center handled more than 31,000 emergency room cases last year, and that care will now fall to other local hospitals. About 1,900 patients received care at the hospital's trauma center last year, and the county's two remaining trauma centers at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center will now have to expand their services.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_vall
ey/10202602.htm

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008