Regional Medical Center: East San Jose advocates ask HCA Healthcare to pay reparations as part of hospital sale

As Santa Clara County moves forward with the purchase of Regional Medical Center, East San Jose advocates are calling on the hospital’s ownership to provide a community reparations package as part of the sale.

The county is expected to finalize the acquisition of the hospital early next year for $175 million from Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit hospital corporation in the country. Santa Clara County’s decision to buy the 258-bed facility comes after HCA announced it would be closing Regional Medical Center’s trauma center and other lifesaving programs — a move that county leaders and East San Jose residents said would lead to worse patient outcomes and more deaths.

Weeks before the changes were supposed to go into effect on Aug. 12, HCA amended its plan and instead decided to downgrade the trauma center and its heart attack and stroke services. The modifications, however, would still have left the community without critical care, which compelled the county to start the process of buying the hospital and crafting a plan to restore services, including the trauma center as well as the labor and delivery wing, which was closed in 2020.

With the trauma center saved, East San Jose advocates behind the “Rescue Our Medical Care” campaign, which had picketed in front of Regional Medical Center for weeks, want HCA to pay reparations.

The concept of reparations has gained traction in recent years as an attempt to restore economic justice for Black Americans stemming from slavery and other Jim Crow-era laws but has expanded into other areas, including climate impact and corporate wrongdoing, as well.

“When you think about when a corporation causes harm, it’s not good enough just to stop doing the harm,” said Darcie Green, the CEO of the non-profit Latinas Contra Cancer, in reference to the hospital stripping services over time. “You have to also figure out how you repair that with the community.”

Green said they’ve been having conversations with community members about how the money from any potential reparations could be used. One idea that’s been raised, she said, is having some of the money go to the Latinx Wellness Center — an idea that has been floated by several county supervisors.

“That corner of East San Jose could be turned into a beacon of health and wellness for not only the Latino community but the entire community that depends on it there in East San Jose,” Green said.

Gabriel Hernandez, the director of the Si Se Puede Collective, said the number owed to East San Jose residents is likely in the tens of millions. When HCA announced that Regional Medical Center would be downgrading its trauma center, Hernandez said they started a robust campaign knocking on doors to let residents know about the changes, which he said took time away from their other priorities.

“They’ve damaged us,” he said.

Hernandez believes the pressure campaign on HCA over the last few months sped up the corporation’s “process of the divestment” in San Jose. Now, the community organizer said they’re starting to have conversations with other communities where HCA owns hospitals, as well.

In North Carolina, the attorney general has threatened HCA with litigation related to the company stripping services at Mission Hospital in Asheville. Unionized nurses at the hospital also recently voted to authorize a strike related to pay and safety concerns.

In July, HCA reported $17.492 billion in revenue for the second quarter of the year — up from $15.861 billion in the same time frame of 2023.

When asked about whether HCA would be willing to pay reparations to the community, a Regional Medical Center spokesperson said in the statement that in the last 25 years, the company has invested $500 million into East San Jose, including about “$23 million in charity care and uncompensated services in 2023 alone.”

“The proposed acquisition by Santa Clara Valley Healthcare will enhance these efforts, restoring access to more specialized care and improving coordination across the region,” the spokesperson said. “We remain committed to being a strong community partner and believe this is the most promising path forward for everyone involved.”

Both Green and Hernandez said they’re wary about HCA’s willingness to pay reparations but said they will continue to advocate for the community and shed light on issues stemming from corporate health care.

“We’re not going away until we’re made whole, until the workers are made whole, until the community in East San Jose is made whole,” Hernandez said.