Regional Medical Center in East San Jose will close trauma center, nurses hold rally

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dozens of nurses rallied in San Jose on Wednesday afternoon to bring more attention to critical services that will soon be cut at Regional Medical Center. 

The California Nurses Association says trauma, stroke, and heart attack patients will lose life-saving services, leaving the East San Jose community at serious risk.

RMC announced back in February that it would shut down some of its comprehensive services here in San Jose. But the nurses who work here say this move puts another strain on a community that often struggles to get critical medical care.  

In the drizzling rain, dozens of nurses from RMC in San Jose say they’re rallying on behalf of their patients.

"The reason that we’re out here today is to raise awareness in this community, because I don’t think people really understand what’s going on. Come Aug 12, the hospital is going to be doing away with comprehensive trauma services, comprehensive stroke services, and STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction), which is for heart attacks," said Colleen Lillie, a registered nurse. 

RMC says it's downsizing the trauma center due to the lower number of patients in need of those services, higher demand for resources and regulatory requirements for the centers that are not sustainable. RMC also says it plans to offer primary care at its stroke center.

"The only thing we want to happen is for them to keep it because we already have it. You don’t want it when you don’t need it, but you have to have it right there when you need it," said Emmanuel Pangan, a registered nurse. 

The California Nurses Association says HCA Healthcare, RMC's parent company, is putting profit over patients and making it harder for a mainly Latino, East San Jose population to receive vital healthcare.

RMC released this statement saying in part: 

"We will continue evaluating, treating and/or stabilizing stroke and serious heart attack patients. Should patients need a higher level of care, we would transport them to other local facilities," said spokesperson Carmella Gutierrez.

RMC also says it’ll use $10 million to expand its emergency department with an additional 20 beds to help meet the community’s needs. Still, nurses there say not having those critical services readily available may put patients' lives at risk.

"The reason is that they're not getting enough patients, but you cannot schedule strokes. You cannot schedule heart attacks. You can't schedule accidents. So you have to have it when you need it," said Pangan. 

"I’ve been a nurse for 30 years at this very location. The community that we serve is underserved. They don’t have insurance, many of them. So, a lot of times they will not seek out healthcare because they can’t afford it. So, when they do come to this hospital, they are very sick," said Lillie. 

RMC says the changes will happen in phases starting Aug. 12. The nurses say they’ll continue advocating for the patients despite the August deadline.