Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.2 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