SALINAS, Calif.- Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare is one step closer to finding a partner to merge with.
The list includes Natividad Medical Center, HCA Healthcare, LPH hospital group, Vanguard Health Systems and Platinum Equity.
These groups have facilities all across the country, from Los Angeles, to Texas, Idaho, Michigan, even in Massachusetts.
Beside the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula's interest in buying the SVMH owned Doctors on Duty and surgery centers, Natividad Medical Center is the only other local prospect.
And that's what it's counting on to beat the competition.
"You would see great collaboration between each facility, medical staff, etc," said CEO Harry Weiss.
For example, better use of beds in each facility. And this is why, listen to this stat from Natividad, each bed and all the equipment hooked up to it costs $1-3 million.
So on any given day, if Natividad is overcrowded in certain units and SVMH has room, they can move patients more efficiently.
"Versus each one of us thinking individually 'Well I need to build more beds, when in fact enough beds exist already in our community,'" said Weiss.
There are three major selling points in Natividad's proposal. The first, local control for both hospitals. A new board would be created with members selected by county supervisors and SVMH Board of Directors. It would be considered a "public authority" hospital that would require lawmaker approval.
Next, if control stayed local all the cash flow into both hospitals would stay local as well. Natividad claims that would keep $50-60 million in our community compared to going with an outside group.
And finally, that money can be invested back into the healthcare system in the long term.
CHOMP
The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula said they aren't looking to fully affiliate with Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital because their vision for the future on the Central Coast doesn't involve another big healthcare system.
What it is looking at, is creating extensions of what the hospital does in more places around the community. With that in mind two of SVMH's assets caught their eye.
"The reason for Doctors on Duty they operate in our primary service area and we think that they'll have a potential synergy with Monterey Bay Urgent Care which we have a minority ownership in."
SVMH owns a majority stake in ten Doctors on Duty clinics. CHOMP is also interested in buying SVMH out of its minority ownership of the Monterey/Salinas surgery centers.
Director of Communication Mary Barker said both entities fit well with its goal moving forward.
"Community based care that involves all providers and provides more of a team approach and a preventive approach."
It already started. Last year, CHOMP opened the Peninsula Wellness Center in Marina. It's also developing an electronic record system that will link straight to your personal doctor's office and is working to coordinate doctor care outside of the hospital itself.
"Community push if you will for prevention, wellness, coordinated care," said Barker.
HCA HEALTHCARE
"What are the healthcare needs, resources and assets in the community what are the assets that are already there?"
These are a few of the questions HCA Healthcare which owns Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose thought of when it decided to throw its hat in the ring to merge with SVMH.
"Because of the capacity we have for taking care of strokes, spine surgery brain surgery and neurological disorders."
Central Coast News got the first look inside the new Neurosciences ICU at Good Samaritan, it opens in a month and will be the first of it's kind in California, not associated with a university.
VP of Communication Leslie Kelsay said it's a perfect example of what HCA did to improve the troubled hospital when it took over.
But HCA is a large healthcare system with 160 hospitals across the country, so there is concern it may buy svmh just to sell it down the road.
HCA did sell a lot of the hospitals it had in California back in the 1990's but since it acquired Good Samaritan and Regional Medical Center here in San Jose it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on improving them.
"In the last seven years HCA has invested more than $125 million right here at Good Samaritan and across town in San Jose at Regional Medical Center in San Jose they are building a whole new hospital and that's a quarter of billion dollar process."
And using Good Samaritan as an example, Kelsay said HCA invests in what's already successful, "You can tell by the publically available results on quality, you can tell by the specialized programs and services, including the hospital's stroke program its cancer care, its maternity programs. It's a good solid facility."
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