Doctors Medical Center San Pablo Campus

Doctors Medical Center San Pablo Campus
Hospital (From Vale Road)
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Geography
Location	2000 Vale Road, San Pablo, California, United States
History
Opened	1954
Links
Website	doctorsmedicalcenter.org
Lists	Hospitals in California

Doctors Medical Center (originally Brookside Hospital) was an eight-story creekside hospital in San Pablo, California.^[1] It was the only cardiac/STEMI, stroke, and cancer center in Contra Costa County.^[2] The health facility once employed 1,100 people.^[3] The hospital has been described as the "backbone" of the community of 250,000 people between that is bordered by Vallejo to the north and Berkeley to the south.^[2] The West Contra Costa Healthcare District board voted on 26 March 2015 to close the facility in April.^[4] The hospital closed on April 21, 2015.^[5]

History[]

In 1948, the residents voted to create the ,^[3] one of the Health care districts in California, for the purpose of building Brookside Hospital, which opened its doors in 1954. The district operated Brookside until 1997, when it affiliated with Tenet Healthcare to administer the hospital, which Tenet renamed Doctors Medical Center.^[6] In 1997 the hospital was forced to receive nearly all the ambulance arrival emergency patients for west county as a result of a federal shut down of Kaiser Richmond.^[7] In January 2004, Tenet announced that it would not be renewing the leasing arrangement, and the district resumed administration of the hospital on July 31, 2004.^[3][6]

Financial woes[]

The hospital was bailed out through several state loan, county funding, and ballot measure schemes throughout the 2000s decade as it struggled to remain open.^{[1][2][8][9][10]} The hospital also struggled to secure funding necessary to retrofit and modernize to meet the state's strict earthquake proofing building standards.^{[1][2][8][10]}

In 2006 the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approved $20 million of funds to be handed over to the hospital.^[8] This deal came with the condition of heightened county scrutiny over the medical center's bookkeeping.^[8] Half came from the county's emergency reserves and half from county administered federal Medicaid funds.^[8] This deal permitted the center to continue ambulance services.^[8]

In 2011, a mail-only special election ballot measure, measure J was approved by 74% of the voters and will cost $47 per parcel annually as long as the facility remains open.^[1][2] The measure was supported by the local chambers of commerce and the local tax payer's advocate group even abstained from having a position on the matter.^[1] It is projected to raise approximately $5 million annually.^[1]

Although the hospital had been able to stay afloat, it had to cut costs to the "bone" including discontinuing obstetrics.^[2] It was one of only two hospitals that accept Medi-Cal in the county which comprise 80% of its users, while 10% have private insurance or none whatsoever, respectively.^[2]

Also in September 2011 Richmond mayor Gayle McLaughlin along with area state senator Loni Hancock and the mayors of Hercules, Pinole, and El Cerrito lobbied governor Jerry Brown for loan guarantees.^[10] The hospital and the lender would have guaranteed loans so the hospital would have funding and the state would repay the lender if the hospital can not.^[10] It was approved by Brown on October 9.^[9]

In March 2015, the West County Health District Board voted to close the hospital and sell the property. The estimated $7.5 million from the sale would satisfy employee, physician, and vendor liabilities. The hospital closed on April 21, 2015.^[11]

Facilities[]

The hospital was the main medical facility serving the West County area of Richmond and surrounding communities. The area is a low income community that serves mostly Medi-Cal patients. The hospital was founded in 1954.^[1] It was also the only full service emergency room for the region it served. Because of this, its repeated near-closings and bankruptcies over the years were a matter of significant public interest.^[10] The only other hospital with any emergency services was Kaiser Richmond but this was not full service.^[12] It had a heliport located on the ground in front of the main entrance.^[13]

The site, when open, was accessible by AC Transit bus lines 70, 72, 72R, and L that connected it with Richmond BART and Amtrak, San Francisco, El Cerrito del Norte BART, Pinole, El Sobrante, Berkeley, and Oakland.^[14]

The facility treated victims of local industrial environmental accidents such as the and PBE Polymers explosions or Chevron Richmond Refinery spills.^[15]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• This hospital in the CA Healthcare Atlas A project by OSHPD

Coordinates: 37°56′14″N 122°21′37″W / 37.93729°N 122.36028°W / 37.93729; -122.36028