By Grace Hase
Silicon Valley, San Jose
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Five months ago, Regional Medical Center sent shockwaves through the East Side when it announced plans to shutter its trauma center and downgrade and close other life savings programs. Now, the hospital has abruptly decided to change course a bit — but even so, Santa Clara County and community leaders say it’s still not enough.
The Friday morning announcement comes after months of county leaders expressing concerns that the closure could lead to unnecessary deaths and put a strain on the county’s own healthcare system. In April the county asked the state to intervene, and a month later, community groups urged California Attorney General Rob Bonta to step in and protect East San Jose residents — many of whom are underinsured or uninsured.
Now, Regional Medical Center says it has a new plan that will better “align with community healthcare needs.”
“We worked closely with our emergency services partners to ensure we will meet the evolving medical needs of our patients and the East San Jose Community,” Regional Medical Center CEO Matt Cova said in a news release. “We’re pleased to have found a path that supports the revisions we’re announcing today.”
Instead of closing the trauma center altogether, it will be downgraded from a Level II to a Level III facility — a move the hospital said will allow doctors to provide assessment, resuscitation, surgery and other intensive care to trauma patients.
The hospital had also previously planned to close its STEMI program, which treated patients in cardiac arrest. Instead, they will have cardiologists available 24 hours a day and a daytime catheterization laboratory. The stroke program, which was also set to be downgraded, will alternatively be able to cater to the needs of 97% of stroke patients, with the rest being transferred to other providers as it has done in the past.
The hospital will also continue with its plans to increase the emergency department capacity from 43 to 63 beds by 2025.
The changes will start on Aug. 12 — the same date that Regional Medical Center was originally set to close the trauma center.
But county leaders aren’t satisfied with the changes and say it still doesn’t meet the area’s healthcare needs.
The hospital, which is owned by the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, HCA Healthcare, serves roughly 2,450 trauma patients a year — approximately a fourth of all traumas in the county. If it were to close, county officials said that about 30% of those traumas would be diverted eight miles away to the county-owned Valley Medical Center, which is one of two Level I trauma centers in Santa Clara County. East San Jose residents living near the hospital could have an increase in 20 to 25 minutes for ambulance transport times to other facilities in ideal traffic conditions.
Dr. Raj Gupta, a neurologist at Regional Medical Center, called it “lip service” and said the “devil is in the details” when it comes to downgrading the facility from a Level II to a Level III trauma center.
“When you look at what it means — is there will be no in-house trauma surgeon,” he said. “Trauma surgeons will be sitting at home taking phone calls and if they feel like they need to come in there’s 30 minutes to come. That is unheard of. In trauma, every minute counts.”
Gupta also criticized the hospital’s plan to treat patients in cardiac arrest, which is to have a daytime catheterization laboratory and a cardiologist available 24 hours a day. But the neurologist said that’s not enough.
“At 5 p.m. if a patient shows up, they have no cath lab,” Gupta said. “They’ll have to transfer all the patients after that as well as on weekends. This is not what this community needs.”
Maria Noel Fernandez, the executive director of Working Partnerships USA, said they “refuse to let HCA erode access to critical care.”
“We won’t stand for cutting emergency services that put HCA’s profits ahead of the health of communities of color and patients who need care the most, and we’ll continue to fight,” she said.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who has helped lead the charge to stop the closure, said the county has yet to receive a letter from the hospital detailing the proposal.
“By springing this on the community and by really not diving into the details it makes me feel like it’s a very insincere attempt to get the community to back down from their concerns,” she said.
In a statement, County Executive James Williams said “HCA has finally acknowledged the severe impacts of its previously announced closure of trauma services and downgrading of STEMI and stroke care at Regional Medical Center .”
“But it is clear that even with this new proposal, Regional would still be downgrading trauma, stroke and STEMI services, which would have a very negative and permanent impact on healthcare access in our most vulnerable communities,” he said. “We remain concerned about the health and safety of our community, which will remain the county’s top priority.”
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