Nurses and health-care workers gathered Thursday to protest the planned closure of Women’s Services at HCA’s Regional Medical Center, which serves East San Jose. They were also protesting the lack of personal protective equipment and unsafe staffing.
“We’re concerned about moms and babies of the East Side,” said Maureen Zeman, a registered nurse in labor and delivery. “The distance from here to Good Sam or O’Connor is quite far and with traffic there’s going to be a lot of emergencies that are going to arise because of the inability to get over to those other hospitals.”
They deliver about 1,000 babies per year, nurses said.
State legislators have joined in calling for the Hospital Corp. of America to reverse its decision to shut down the unit May 31.
“I sent a letter with @KansenChu & @Jimbealljr opposing closure of San Jose Regional Medical Center maternity ward,” Assemblyman Ash Kalra tweeted on Wednesday. “As only hospital in east San Jose, we need to keep services open for expecting mothers & children.”
A Change.org petition had received nearly 12,000 signatures as of Thursday evening.
“Many of our patients don’t have prenatal care or have the ability to get to their doctor so they come here to seek adequate care,” Zeman said. “Women of child-bearing age have to go quite a distance to get the care they deserve, and we don’t think that’s fair.”