SACRAMENTO — A plan to establish a temporary emergency stabilization unit in Patterson advanced Tuesday as the California Senate Health Committee approved Assembly Bill 2282 on a 6‑1 vote, moving the proposal closer to becoming law.
The bill, authored by Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R‑Modesto, would authorize a publicly owned and operated hospital, in partnership with the Del Puerto Health Care District, to open a Regional Emergency Stabilization and Care Unit while the community’s first hospital is planned and built. Patterson, a city of more than 25,000 on the West Side of Stanislaus County, has no emergency department, leaving residents with a 25‑ to 30‑minute ambulance ride to the nearest hospital.
“Today’s vote is a win for the people of Patterson,” Alanis said in a statement. “For too long, this community has lived more than 25 minutes from the nearest emergency room. AB 2282 gives Del Puerto Health Care District the tools to change that, while they finish building a permanent hospital.”…