Healthcare clinics in Gilroy and Morgan Hill whose status had been jeopardized by bankruptcy proceedings opened under new ownership April 1.
Gilroy Primary Care, at 9360 No Name Uno, and Morgan Hill Medical Associates, at 18550 De Paul Drive, opened on schedule Monday, owned and operated by Silicon Valley Medical Development, a subsidiary of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.
The two clinics were among five in the Bay Area purchased by Silicon Valley Medical Development from Verity Health Systems. The $1.27 million deal was approved March 27 in US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.
Silicon Valley Medical Development president Bruce Harrison announced that the new clinics will continue to be affiliated with physicians in the San Jose Medical Group, under a new professional services agreement with his company.
“All appointments currently scheduled will be honored, and new appointments can be scheduled by calling the same phone numbers as before. We look forward to welcoming patients to San Jose Medical Group, affiliated with Silicon Valley Medical Development.
“San Jose Medical Group physicians serve an important community need,” Harrison added, “and we are honored to work with them to quickly open and make this transition as seamless as possible for their patients.”
The other clinics are located in San Jose at 625 Lincoln Ave., 2585 Samaritan Drive and 227 N. Jackson Ave.
“In the near future, the community can expect to see service enhancements, new technology and other improvements at these sites,” Harrison said in a press release last week.
The court’s approval just before the deadline of the purchase agreement had sent the new owners scrambling to open the clinics without an interruption in healthcare services.
“Now that SVMD received approval, it can provide staff with employment offers,” the new owners said in a statement. “Initially positions will be filled through a combination of direct employment and contracted agencies. Patients previously served by San Jose Medical Group physicians will be contacted to ensure their health care needs are being met appropriately.”
“We are pleased to have a new home where we can continue to see our patients and meet their needs,” said Dr. Shabnam Husain, M.D., chair of the physicians’ group. “We commend SVMD’s foresight and commitment to the local community (to) keep our physician group intact and open these clinics in such short order. It was a huge undertaking and an effort for which we are thankful and that will serve our community well for years to come.”
Of the 180 employees at the clinics who are members of the Service Employees International-United Healthcare Workers West union—10 at the Gilroy and Morgan Hill clinics—only 16 are being retained by the El Camino Healthcare District, the union said in a statement last week.
“It’s reprehensible that the district would let go quality employees who built trust among patients and have been caring for them, in some cases, as long as three decades,” the union said.
On March 26, healthcare workers filed a ballot initiative for the November 2020 election to ensure voters have a say in the El Camino Healthcare District’s expansion plans, including its $1.27 million purchase of the five clinics outside district boundaries.
The El Camino Healthcare District includes most of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills; a large portion of Sunnyvale; and small sections of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Palo Alto. It is governed by a publicly elected or appointed board of five members.For more information, visit www.svmdmed.org.
