Los Gatos, CA - July 10, 2009 - Hundreds of citizens from Los Gatos, Mountain View and the surrounding communities will gather today at 3 p.m. in front of El Camino Hospital Los Gatos in celebration of the much-anticipated July 12 hospital opening. During the brief, 90-day closure period, El Camino Hospital leaders completed more than 100 key technology upgrades, hired and trained hundreds of staff and physicians, and worked closely with community groups and South Bay Area physicians to determine key health services for the community.
"I look forward to the opening of El Camino Hospital Los Gatos with great pride and anticipation, as I know our residents will benefit greatly from the investment El Camino Hospital has made in our community and the increased level of medical services. Once the 'ribbon is cut' one of Los Gatos’ largest employers and finest medical facilities will be open for business," said Mike Wasserman, mayor of Los Gatos.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. on July 10, two days in advance of the official hospital opening, as hospital staff take care of all last-minute preparation details. Participants in the ribbon-cutting ceremony include: Honorable Mayor Mike Wasserman, Los Gatos; Wes Alles, Ph.D., director of health improvement program, Stanford Hospital and chairman, El Camino Hospital board of directors; Ken Graham, chief executive officer, El Camino Hospital; and Eric Pifer, M.D., chief medical officer, El Camino Hospital and president of El Camino Hospital Los Gatos.
"We couldn't be more pleased to open this sister site to El Camino Hospital," said Ken Graham. "We intend to retain the hospital's reputation as a focal point of the Los Gatos community, and at the same time, we are bringing in the improvements that will help us serve the communities of Los Gatos, Campbell, Cupertino and Saratoga, even better. These improvements will help reach our goal for both locations to be among the top five percent of hospitals in the country for quality."
The hospital's emergency department will begin accepting walk-in patients at noon on July 12, and ambulance traffic will begin on July 19. In addition, the coronary care unit (CCU) will have eight of its 15 beds open on July 12, and the orthopedics and physical therapy departments also will be open. Several operating room cases are already scheduled for opening week with the full schedule of surgery slated to begin Aug. 1. The labor & delivery department is set to open on July 27.
Technology Upgrades and Upcoming Plans
Patients will be served by a broader spectrum of clinical services in Los Gatos, including emergency care, acute health care services, labor and delivery, urology, orthopedics and ophthalmology. Surrounding communities also will benefit from facilities and treatment with state-of-the-art services such as a shock wave lithotripter for the non-invasive treatment of kidney stones. Located at the Los Gatos campus, the system is the only one available in the South Bay Area. Other technology upgrades include plans for new radiology equipment with digital views capabilities, advanced ultrasound technology and a state-of-the-art electronic medical records system.
A Three-Month Makeover
In an effort to bring its community model of health care delivery to the Los Gatos community, El Camino Hospital purchased the Los Gatos facility from Long Beach-based real estate investment trust HCP Inc. and certain operational assets from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in December 2008.
In March 2009, El Camino Hospital officials announced that Tenet and El Camino Hospital had signed agreements that allowed for an early close of escrow on the Los Gatos facility. The parties had sought the agreements in order to reduce the time the Los Gatos site would be closed. The agreements allowed El Camino Hospital to gain access to the hospital April 11 instead of June 1, seven weeks earlier than previously announced.
Since gaining full access to the facility on April 11, activation teams have worked overtime and made significant financial and time investments to open the hospital in just three months.
Promoting Prevention and Wellness in Los Gatos
In support of health education as a key to prevention, El Camino Hospital’s not-for-profit, model of care is also bringing community wellness lectures to the Los Gatos campus. Upcoming events include:
- Options for Back Pain with Jeffrey D.Coe, M.D. and Michael W. Cluck, M.D., Ph.D., 7 - 8 pm, Tuesday, July 14
- Coronary Artery Disease and Stroke: Basic Risk Factors and Relationship to Diabetes and Obesity with Ron Kite, M.D., 7 - 8 pm, Tuesday, August 11
People interested in future job opportunities with El Camino Hospital can send resumes to hr@elcaminohospital.org with "Los Gatos" in the subject line. Physicians are encouraged to call the physician hotline at 650-988-7698.
About El Camino Hospital
El Camino Hospital, ranked among the top five percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical excellence by HealthGrades, is an acute care, 542-bed, not-for-profit and locally-governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, Calif. Key medical specialty focuses include cancer care, heart & vascular, neuroscience, genomic medicine, orthopedic & spine and women's health.
El Camino Hospital has delivered the highest level of medical services to the communities of Silicon Valley for more than four decades. The hospital is also recognized as a national leader in the use of health information technology to promote patient safety, including computerized order entry, electronic medical records and wireless communications.
To learn more about El Camino Hospital and its services in Mountain View and Los Gatos, visit our Website. For a physician referral, visit our Web site.