September 8, 2004 -- San José, Ca., --- We are shocked and surprised by today’s announcement about the sudden closure of San Jose Medical Center.  This is very sad news for our community about a vital asset for the health of our residents.

As mayor, as a downtown resident, and as an emergency patient myself earlier this year, I know firsthand how important San Jose Medical Center is to our entire community.

We are very concerned about the impacts of the closure.  First, it will affect quality of life for our growing downtown neighborhood and the availability of medical care – especially emergency care – for our residents, workers, and visitors in the heart of San Jose. But we are also deeply worried about the patients served by the hospital and the hundreds of its employees who will be losing their jobs, especially during this period of economic downturn in Silicon Valley.

Finally, we are very disappointed that so much hard work by our downtown residents, the City and the County of Santa Clara, and the hospital itself on planning for its long-term transition to Regional Medical Center of San Jose will have been wasted.  Unfortunately this includes the $100,000 joint study on needs for downtown medical services that we co-funded with the County and is scheduled for completion this fall.

Although we can't force HCA, as a private business, to change its business decision about closing the medical center, we ask them to reconsider it and to keep working with us for solutions to serve our downtown and our entire community.