The Save San Leandro Hospital Campaign achieved another victory last night with a 3 to 1 vote by the Eden Township Healthcare District Board against Sutter Health's option to purchase the facility. The board also voted to get an independent legal opinion on all its options. Senator Ellen Corbett, who was also present for the entire meeting, expressed support for exploring other avenues that would ensure that the hospital remain open.

Last night's vote follows a series of town halls, district boards, and protests over the last several months that have been filled with hundreds of angry patients, neighbors, nurses, and doctors demanding that San Leandro Hospital stay open and continue serving their community.

"The need for a full functioning acute-care hospital in San Leandro has been firmly established," said Carol Barazi, a long-time resident and RN at SLH who was present at last nights Eden Township Healthcare District board meeting. "Our hospital serves 27,000 patients in the emergency room, a year, many of them from under served communities. We are facing a swine flu epidemic and a major earthquake on the horizon. If SLH is no longer an acute-care hospital, the choices for emergency care are slim-either the newly built Eden Hospital in Castro Valley with 48 fewer beds or Highland Hospital, which is already bursting at the seams."

"I am happy that the board has listened to the community and is exploring every option for keeping San Leandro Hospital and its emergency room open," said Senator Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro). "The community is to be commended for their advocacy. People can and have made a difference."

Voting against turning the hospital over to Sutter were director's Carol Rogers, Vin Sawhney and Harry Dvorsky. Further discussion of San Leandro Hospital's future will happen at Senator Ellen Corbett's town hall meeting on Thursday, August 27, 2009, at the San Leandro Library. The meeting will start at 6p.m. The San Leandro Library is located at 300 Estudillo Avenue.

Source
Save San Leandro Hospital