HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6.2 Valley Memorial Hospital Request CITY OF DUBLIN
AGENDA STATEMENT
MEETING DATE : April 11 , 1983
SUBJECT Written Communication - Valley Memorial Hospital
EXHIBITS ATTACHED Letter from Valley Memorial Hospital dated
March 22 , 1983
RECOMMENDATION Consider Request
FINANCIAL STATEMENT : None
DESCRIPTION Valley Memorial Hospital is requesting the City to
support its Certificate of Need application .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPIES TO :
/
ITEM N0 . - �,
MAR 2 81983
Valley Hospital CITY OF DUBVIM
Memorial -
THOMAS J.ANDREWS
Chief Executive Officer
March 22, 1983
Mr. Richard Ambrose
City Manager
P.O. Box 2340
Dublin, CA 94568
Dear Mr. Ambrose:
Valley Memorial Hospital has been involved in an intensive planning process
that will affect in a positive way the health care you receive in the
future. Next month, we will file a Cert.ificate of. Need application with
the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to build a new
hospital facility in Pleasanton. Other organizations will apply to build
other hospitals in the West Valley as well ; all applicants are responding
to the need for additional services near the Highway 680 corridor created
by the rapid population growth in that area .
All of us believe that the integrated Valley—wide hospital system proposed
by Valley Memorial Hospital will .provide the highest quality and most cost
effective hospital care to meet that need , and will enable Valley Memorial
Hospital to continue to offer the broad range of services upon which you
now rely. We would like to share with you our proposed plans. We also ask
for your written support for the legal Certificate of Need application
which determines the outcome of our planning efforts.
This application is based on planning that began in the 19701s, when the
Hospital 's first long range plan identified the potential population growth
in the West Valley and the concomitant need for additional health services.
In 1974 Valley Memorial Hospital purchased 22 acres in Pleasanton for
future expansion; we also opened the Family Medical Center and a satellite
laboratory in Pleasanton, making health care services more accessible to
all of the communities we serve (Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol , Dublin, San
Ramon and surrounding areas) . Over the years, we have added services such
as Critical Care Units, an Alternative Birth Center and Short Stay Center ,
programs such as our new Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, and equipment
including two high speed chemistry analyzers and a C.A.T. Scanner to meet
the area ' s health needs. We have been equally concerned with meeting
future needs when they were needed . That ' s why a new hospital facility
was not built in 1978, but deemed necessary when population growth
accelerated in the 1980' s. Demographers predict the Valley population will
double and the number of elderly residents (those most needing hospital
1111 East Stanley Boulevard • Livermore, California 94550 • (415)447-7000
Mr. Richard Ambrose
March 22, 1983 Page two
services) will increase three-fold in the next 20 years. Architectural and
planning consultants indicate that the present hospital facility, and site
will be unable to meet the Valley population' s future health care needs.
The development plan adopted by the Board of Directors in 1982 calls for
building a full service hospital on the Pleasanton site with continued use
of the Livermore facility.
We are excited about the plans for Pleasanton. The architects have
designed a full service hospital with your needs in mind : a Critical Care
complex , an idea initiated by the Hospital physicians, will cluster
services needed by critically injured patients in close proximity on the
same floor; the Emergency/Trauma area is adjacent to Radiology and Surgery,
the Critical Care Unit is nearby, and Labor & Delivery is also adjacent to
Surgery. The design reflects a second planning goal -- a hospital that can
grow easily to meet future needs. Trauma Care , Inpatient Surgery,
Obstetrical Care, Pediatrics, Critical Care and General Medical/Surgical
beds will be in Pleasanton .
Located in Livermore will be Inpatient Medical/Surgical beds including
Critical Care and all services needed to support these Units , Outpatient
Diagnostic and Treatment services including Same Day Surgery, and an
Urgent Care Center (currently 85% of the Emergency Room visits are
classified urgent care , not requiring elaborate diagnostic treatment and
surgical backup associated with emergencies) . A physician will continue to
be on duty during all operational hours, and patients with more serious
injuries are only a few miles away by freeway from the Pleasanton site.
The newly constructed Administration Building in Livermore will continue to
serve as corporate headquarters for both facilities; Administrative and
Financial Services, Data Processing , Purchasing , and many Medical Staff and
educational activities will be centralized at the Livermore facility.
What about the space vacated by Departments moving to Pleasanton? We will
be adding health care programs not currently available in the Valley,
including short term Inpatient Mental Health, Alcoholism Treatment , and a
Hospice Program. Flexiblity has been built into our plans for the
Livermore, facility, as well . Should any additional services, including
Medical/Surgical beds, be needed in Livermore, they can be provided at any
time during the Certificate of Need process or after approvals are
obtained.
The initial bed capacity in Pleasanton will be 114 beds, while 79 beds
remain in Livermore. This fits the demographic trends in the Valley; the
center of population will continue to move West and North of the Livermore
site , and two-thirds of that population will reside in the Pleasanton,
Dublin and San Ramon areas. The new site is within a 15-minute drive from
all points in our service area.
Mr. Richard Ambrose
March 22 , 1983 Page three
By operating two facilities, services will be shared with a minimum of
duplication. That means that a 79-bed hospital in Livermore , or a 114-bed
hospital in Pleasanton, actually offers the services of a 193-bed,
hospital . If our Certificate of Need is not approved , and another
hospital firm is allowed to build in the West Valley area , Valley Memorial
Hospital in Livermore will not be the full service facility it is today.
You will see fewer services and will be Saying more for your care.
That ' s why we ask for your written support. As representatives of Valley
residents, your endorsement is vital for the approval of our application.
Please send your letter to Tom Andrews at Valley Memorial Hospital so that
we might include it in our Certificate of Need application for State
approval . Be assured that we will keep you unformed of our progress.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Thomas H. Schweser
Chairman, o�rd of Directors
Thomas Andrews
Chief Executive Officer
�Mi hael P. Ranahan, M.D.
Chief of Staff
TS:TA:MR:mk