Santa Clara County and HCA Healthcare have reached an agreement for the county to pursue the acquisition of Regional Medical Center (RMC) in San Jose, officials announced at a Wednesday news briefing.
The move would allow the county to integrate RMC with its Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system, officials said.
“Making Regional Medical Center part of Santa Clara Valley Healthcare’s network of hospitals and clinics will ensure that East San Jose and the surrounding community continue to have access to top-notch level 2 trauma, comprehensive stroke, specialized heart attack, and ultimately, labor and delivery care,” Santa Clara County Executive James R. Williams said in a statement. “In addition, the county will not have to make significant investments to expand staffing and facilities at our other hospitals, which would otherwise be required, by building on HCA Healthcare’s facility investments and operations at Regional Medical Center.”
The announcement comes after months of a campaign to keep the trauma center open at RMC. In July, RMC said it would stay open but would downgrade from a level 2 to a level 3 trauma center.
Earlier this month, health care unions and patients held a rally and said the previously planned changes at the trauma center meant certain sub-specialty doctors will be on-call instead of on site and ready.
The county and HCA will now work on negotiating "a definitive purchase agreement, undergo due diligence, and take steps to obtain necessary approvals to move forward with the transaction."
Officials are hoping a deal is finalized in the first quarter of 2025.
With a goal of restoring many of the services, the county said it can absorb the cost into public hospital revenue streams in conjunction with a large one-time reimbursement from FEMA for COVID-related expenses.
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County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said the county’s move is a relief to the community, which is relatively far away from the other area hospitals.
"This purchase of this hospital is going to coincide with the Latino Health Assessment, the culmination and the results, and we’re going to learn what is it exactly does our community need," she said.
Dr. Manny Gonzales also said patients will gain by being part of a countywide system.
“The fact that we will have access to regional center’s medical records is super helpful," he said. "I work right across the street from regional and we get a lot of the patients who come from the ED for follow-up and I don’t have access to what was done there."
