San Leandro Hospital's prognosis bleak

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 17, 2008 | by Karen Holzmeister

SAN LEANDRO -- Without millions of dollars in ongoing financial transfusions, San Leandro Hospital will be on its last legs as an independent general hospital, an Oakland health consultant has concluded.

Competition from new hospitals to be built in San Leandro and Castro Valley, current and projected cash shortfalls, and state- mandated earthquake retrofitting pose financial problems for the community-owned hospital on East 14th Street.

The not-unexpected conclusions by Healthcare Financial Solutions of Oakland move the 122-bed hospital further down the path of likely purchase by the Sutter Health network. It could be converted to nonacute services, such as rehabilitation.

Eden Medical Center of Castro Valley, a Sutter affiliate, has operated the 48-year-old hospital since 2004, the year the Eden Township Healthcare District bought San Leandro Hospital.

District directors will discuss the report -- and the future of San Leandro Hospital, which opened in 1960 -- at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The meeting has been moved from district offices in Castro Valley to San Leandro Hospital, 13855 E. 14th St., because of expected interest and attendance, said Dev Mahadevan, the district's chief executive officer.

Eden Medical Center's operation of San Leandro Hospital ends in June 2010, under an updated agreement that district directors and Sutter approved last fall.

A 23-page report submitted to the healthcare district by HFS suggests that Eden would need $36.9 million in start-up money to continue operating San Leandro Hospital with its patient-care, surgery and emergency rooms. District subsidies would grow to a total of $113.7 million by 2015, the report suggests.

New healthcare district taxes, a purchase by Sutter or another medical chain, and private and government funding are options to keep San Leandro Hospital open. The district includes Castro Valley, Hayward, San Leandro and San Lorenzo.

For more information, call 510-538-2031.