Posted on 05/07/2005 7:07:20 PM PDT by Utah Binger
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For more than 80 years, the San Jose Medical Center has served as a lifeline for the South Bay.
On Thursday, the hospital closed its doors forever.
The last four patients were moved to other hospitals Wednesday, and the San Jose Medical Center Officially closed at 5 p.m. Thursday -- closing the door on a history of births, breakthroughs in patient care and trauma services, NBC11's Marianne Favro reported.
When the San Jose Medical Center first opened in 1923, the pathology lab consisted of Mason jars and microscopes.
The hospital later went on to become one of the first in the state to have a critical care unit, offering round-the-clock monitoring of patients.
Thousands of babies were born there during the past 80 years, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Olympic Gold Medalist Peggy Flemming.
Now, the halls are empty and the medical center is closed.
Former hospital president Dr. Jerry Hanson has worked at the medical center almost 30 years. He's wondering how patients in the neighborhood will cope.
"There haven't been any new hospitals built in this area since 1965, and I am afraid that the community will have real difficulty," Hanson said.
The hospital was home to one of only three trauma centers in the county.
Now car crash, work accident and gunshot victims will have only two choices for trauma care -- Valley Medical Center and Stanford.
And this vacant hospital doesn't just affect the patients in the neighborhood, but doctors say it will lead to longer wait times in emergency rooms at other hospitals, Favro reported.
Today there was a doctor from San Jose who informed me that the San Jose Medical Center had closed. I was astounded in as much as San Jose is the center of Silicon Valley where there would never be a problem with money.
I said to the doc "why did it close?" His answer was a stupid one. "They ran out of money."
I responded, "too many illegals getting free treatment?"
The liberal doc gave me a look that I should have photographed and I will never forget. His disdain for my question and for me was just remarkable.
Of course in the big picture of things we little people in Southern Utah just do not have the level of understanding needed to comprehend how free treatment can make a hospital close.
I responded, "too many illegals getting free treatment?"
And the trial lawyers probably sucking the life out of the hospital.
That too!
While I was visiting her there, a haughty "Case Administrator" (nurse on steroids?) visited her room. Seeing my helmet, she commented with something snotty like, "Oh, riding our donorcycle today, are we?"
I kick myself now for not thinking of it at the time -- I was a little distracted -- but a perfect comeback would've been, "Hey, cupcake: Unlike the hordes of Illegal Aliens I just waded through in your lobby, I AM PAYING FOR THIS TREATMENT. Now take your snide lifestyle commentary and GET THE HELL OUT."
No kidding!
Lots of reasons why these hospitals go bust. But one of the biggest is simply that there aren't enough doctors to staff them all.
It's far, far, far from being just illegals who are getting free or nearly-free treatment. A great part of the problem with hospitals like San Jose (whose books I have studied as part of my employment) is that many or most of the patients are Medical/Medicare recipients. If 67-year-old Pedro, a US citizen, gets a myocardial infarction and racks up a $75,000 bill, Medicare pays the hospital about $10,000. If legal immigrant Kwon Lee has a premie who generates $400,000 in charges, Medical pays the hospital $50,000. In both cases the patients are not expected to pay a red cent for their care. What business can keep running like that? They don't get enough Blue Cross/Blue Shield patients to even things out.
Maybe so, but they're a big part of the problem in San Jose and far larger elsewhere, for the reasons you stated in reference to indigent citizens and legal permanent residents.
Doesn't let them off the hook.
I work in trauma services for the only trauma center in a five county area, and our department is not exactly a cash cow -- it hemorrhages $$$$. Much trauma is caused by risky behavior and these people are rarely fiscally responsible. It's a given for us that 90% of our most critically injured will be uninsured.
I drive by it every work day morning... Sad thing to see that one close. A huge loss to the downtown sector of San Jose. Had some great ER docs there. Maybe, something might become of it. But as I see, many lease signs are popping up all around other business being affected by this closure.
Very true, however, if you have costs that overide your income and the overwhelming exposure with lawsuits coming from everywhere with insurance premiums going through the roof, what do you do? You close.
Too bad.
This can be the problem for rural hospitals,but not for one
in San Jose.Illegals and welfare patients were,I'll wager,
the big problems.
In my search to find a suitable article, there was a Communist named Roz Dean in San Jose trying to save the hospital by applying more government to the process instead of clearly facing the major issue.
The beauty of being at least three hundred miles from anywhere is that things are very clear out here in more ways than one.
Just don't get in a severe accident. You will die before they can find a hospital that will take you... if they can find one.
One doctor does not a hospital make.
Not true. There are plenty of doctors, just not enough well-insured, paying patients. Think about it, why work and take calls on patients who are sicker since they've never had any maintenance routine care...higher acuity and hence higher liability, etc...and not get paid for it? Why would any doctor...oh wait, what happened to the Hippocratic Oath? $$$ Chaching! That's your answer. Follow the money!
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