A San Jose hospital wants to construct two new hospital wings in a more than 1 million-square-foot expansion to satisfy California earthquake mandates — but health care equity concerns are also rising to the surface.
Patient advocates and leaders gathered outside Good Samaritan Hospital last month to protest what they said were health care inequities in East San Jose at Regional Medical Center . Now advocates like East San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz and retired state Sen. Jim Beall are calling for the Good Samaritan expansion to be put on pause in light of ongoing cuts and reductions to critical services being made across San Jose by HCA Healthcare, which owns both hospitals.
“As a councilmember and advocate, I will always support the expansion of health services for all residents in San Jose,” Ortiz told San José Spotlight. “However, at this time, I am calling for a pause on the expansion because the city needs to study exactly how the decisions that HCA is making will impact the residents of East Side San Jose and the entire community.”