County Update
With Santa Clara County
Supervisor Mike Wasserman
Supervisor Mike Wasserman was elected to the Santa Clara
County Board of Supervisors in November, 2010, and re-elected
in 2014. He represents District 1, which includes Gilroy, San
Martin, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and portions
of San Jose (supervisorwasserman.org).
As
of March 1, 2019, the
County of Santa Clara
now owns and operates Saint Louise
Regional and O’Connor hospitals,
as well as De Paul Health Center.
The County acquired these hospitals
in order prevent their closure due
to bankruptcy, and to ensure the
continued availability of healthcare
throughout the county, including in
South County. It’s chilling to think how
close we came to not having a hospital
in South County. The threat of these
hospital closures would have been
devastating, particularly to the 100,000
South County residents who depend on
a local hospital with life-saving services.
The acquisition comes after Judge
R. Gary Klausner denied California
Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s
emergency motion to stay (halt) the
Bankruptcy Court’s order authorizing
the sale to the County. This means
that the previous owner, Verity Health
System, and the County were able to
complete the sale that includes 451
44
hospital beds and affects nearly 2,000
hospital workers. I am relieved that we
will be able to continue offering high-
quality, critical health care services to
all Santa Clara County residents and
am grateful to everyone who rallied
to save the hospitals by speaking up,
contacting our elected officials in
Sacramento, and attending rallies.
What comes next.
Per the agreement for the purchase
of the 358-bed O’Connor Hospital, the
93-bed Saint Louise Regional Hospital,
and the De Paul Health Center, the
County will continue operating the
facilities with a focus on providing
high-quality care and services, as
well as improving the health of the
community.
Our responsibility and intent is
to improve the overall health of our
community by enhancing the care
provided to patients and expanding
access to health care for all. To that
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
june/july 2019
end, the County is making investments
to upgrade equipment, facilities, and
systems; to implement a state-of-the-
art electronic health record; to expand
physician call coverage; and to recruit
and retain highly qualified staff. The
County is also instituting its financial
assistance programs at the new facilities
to ensure that the most underserved in
our community have greater access to
high-quality care.
The hospitals, their staff and
physicians all share the County’s
mission to provide high-quality,
compassionate and accessible health-
care to our patients. As a public
hospital system, the County provides
care to all people living in Santa Clara
County, and this acquisition supports
the County’s ability to serve even more
residents in our community. I hope
that you are as pleased as I am that
we were able to save the hospitals
from bankruptcy and closure, keeping
our countywide healthcare network
intact.
gmhtoday.com