Guest column by Roland Velasco: City of Gilroy supports sale of St. Louise to Santa Clara County
Published in the February 20 – March 5, 2019 issue of Gilroy Life
Roland Velasco
St. Louise Regional Hospital has served as a critical component of the local community, providing much needed healthcare services since it opened nearly 20 years ago. I’d like to provide clarity on the city of Gilroy’s position on the future of this facility.
Please consider it is important to remember that between Hazel Hawkins Memorial in Hollister and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Jose, Saint Louise Regional Hospital is the only significant medical facility in the area providing critical services such as cardiology, intensive care, respiratory therapy, orthopedic surgery, inpatient care, diagnostic imaging, gastrointestinal care, and, most importantly, a 24-hour emergency room. The Gilroy City Council believes our citizens deserve a high-functioning local hospital. Too often our citizens are left without when service providers get to choose between locating here and the San Jose metropolitan area. St. Louise Regional is a much needed community asset that merits protection.
In September 2018, following the formal bankruptcy filing of parent company Verity, Inc., the city of Gilroy was told by officials at St. Louise Hospital that our local hospital would likely be put up for auction by the bankruptcy court judge. We were also informed that St. Louise was one of Verity’s more profitable and financially viable assets and, therefore, would be highly sought after at auction from many would-be purchasers.
In light of this expectation, the city of Gilroy was encouraged by St. Louise Hospital officials to write a letter to the bankruptcy court judge to voice our local preference for ownership of the only hospital that exists in South County. During this same time period, hospital leadership at St. Louise provided numerous familiarization tours of the facility for other hospital providers that were interested in bidding. In a letter dated Sept. 24, 2018, the city council authorized me to send a letter voicing a preference for a privately-operated healthcare facility (similar to what we had with St. Louise under Verity) as opposed to a government-run healthcare facility.
We now know the County of Santa Clara was the only bidder for the hospital. This was contrary to the expectations of officials at St. Louise. Soon after that, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra moved to block the sale to the county. The Gilroy City Council was very concerned that the actions of the attorney general could result in its complete closure as there were no other bidders for the hospital. We acknowledged that losing local access to any of the previously mentioned services could have a substantial negative impact on the health of everyone in our community.
With the possibility of our local hospital closing, the city of Gilroy supported the decision of the bankruptcy court judge to award the sale to the County of Santa Clara. It was of paramount importance that the services offered by St. Louise Regional Hospital were not interrupted, even temporarily for the health and wellbeing of the citizens of Gilroy.
The city of Gilroy is looking forward to the maintenance of high-quality healthcare services by the new St. Louise Regional Hospital, owned and operated by Santa Clara County.
Roland Velasco is the mayor of Gilroy. He wrote this column for Gilroy Life.