Members of the California Nurses Association say they are tired of being left in the dark when it comes to the looming sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System, which includes Gilroy’s Saint Louise Regional Hospital.
On Thursday afternoon, June 19, about a dozen CNA-represented nurses—from SLRH as well as others from Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose—gathered in a shaded area just outside the entranceway of South County’s only full-service hospital to express their frustration.
“It’s been a few months since they’ve been able to tell us anything definitive” about the possible sale of the hospitals, said CNA labor representative Phuong Tran, who helped to organize the planned “vigil” with the nurses holding small signs with their message.
DCHS announced in January that Saint Louise, and all five of its medical care facilities, including SLRH, O’Connor and Morgan Hill’s DePaul medical buildings, were going up for sale.
The CNA released a statement June 18 asking DCHS executives to promise to sell the hospitals to a buyer who will keep them as full-service facilities. The labor organization also urged DCHS execs to keep their promises to employees on benefits, pensions, safe staffing and high recruitment standards.
SLRH spokeswoman Donna Cumming responded that DCHS is looking for a buyer for the entire DCHS system who shares the current owner’s goals.
“That’s (DCHS’) vision,” Cumming said. “That the next (owner) will continue to do what DCHS and SLRH has done, which is provide high-quality, affordable and compassionate care for all.”
However, with any negotiations with prospective buyers being kept confidential, nurses—many of whom live in Gilroy and the surrounding areas—are worried about SLRH’s future once it is sold.
“It’s critical. It’s critical for the community,” said Malinda Markowitz, a CNA President and nurse in the medical surgical unit of Good Samaritan Hospital. “It’s about nurses helping nurses to protect our patients and the community.”
One sign at Thursday’s vigil read, “Nurses Standing Up for Our Patients,” and the other read, “Our Community Needs Our Hospital,” with both also stating, “Keep Your Promise Daughters of Charity.”
Registered nurse Donna Fisher, who has worked in South County since 1983 and at SLRH since it was built in 1989, said she and her fellow nurses, have remained loyal to the regional hospital at 9400 No Name Uno through six ownership changes. The nurses just want to be assured that the seventh will continue operating in the same manner for the long term.
“We need a hospital,” Fisher said. “You don’t think it’s an important thing (to have a nearby hospital) until you need one and you don’t have one.”
Gilroy Mayor Don Gage, who met with the nurses but was unable to attend the vigil, agreed that it is “extremely important” to keep the hospital opened to serve the residents of South County.
“They have concerns,” said Gage of the nurses. “First, (what happens) if the hospital closes? Secondly, they were concerned about who purchases the hospital because, if they are from the private sector, some of them will lose their jobs and they believe they won’t get as good a service under the new ownership.”
Back in February, the County Board of Supervisors tasked a committee of county staff to study the possibility of purchasing SLRH and O’Connor Hospital in San Jose with public funds.
However, Gage said this week that DCHS has changed its philosophy from selling each hospital separately to wanting to sell the entire system in one sale.
“Rather than just selling SLRH by itself, they want to sell it all,” Gage said.
SLRH serves South Santa Clara County and northern San Benito County. The nonprofit hospital has 96 licensed beds, according to DCHS. It employs 554 people, in addition to more than 200 physicians. Its emergency room served 26,000 patients in 2012.
