Update on San Jose Medical Center:

HCA- Profits over people.

HCA owns two hospitals, in a region the size of San Jose (the 3rd largest City in California- 10th largest in the whole entire US!) , two miles apart from one another, and in the end is forced to shut one of them down. Then, at the other hospital, the one they left open, HCA immediately refuses to accept Medi-Cal for most services - leaving the elderly and under-issured with little options in healthcare!

Yet- they want to come to Loudoun County, not near the size and scope of San Jose, and build a hospital only five miles from an existing healthcare facility- and they think that both of them are going to survice financially? HELLO? Does anyone else out there see the problem here?

From the article:

"The crusty old buildings of the former downtown San Jose Medical Center are doomed to be an eyesore on Santa Clara Street until local politicians stop punishing the health-care giant [HCA] that owns it for being a bad corporate citizen. Hospital operator HCA abruptly closed the center in 2004, leaving the downtown community without an emergency room. The closest hospital, HCA-owned Regional Medical Center, is two miles away and recently stopped accepting Medi-Cal for most services, making it less than ideal for senior citizens and other [less-insured] residents. That put extra strain on the county's Valley Medical Center.

Valley Medical Center, is what some in the business refer to as a 'safety net facility'- meaning they're there no matter what, and no matter who, needs healthcare.