State legislators push bill to limit emergency room closures

The shutdown of San Pablo's Doctors Medical Center in 2015 has prompted state and local officials to try to slow down hospital closures. Photo by Christopher Connelly.

California has one the nation’s lowest number of hospital emergency rooms per capita, and Bay Area legislators are calling this shortage a crisis, as the number of people who need urgent care services keeps growing. They are pushing for a bill that would require non-profit hospitals to obtain approval from the state Attorney General.

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Former Doctors Medical Center in contract to become hotel

The property Doctor's Medical Center sit on may soon be sold to a Davis, California based hotel operator. The hospital closed in April 2015. (Photo by Paayal Zaveri)

The former Doctors Medical Center buildings in San Pablo are in contract to be sold to a boutique hotel operator based in Davis, California for $13.5 million. The board hopes that the money from the sale will help fill the district’s budget deficit and meet continuing financial obligations to former employees.

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Patients struggle, doctors worry in aftermath of hospital shutdown

In the months following the April shutdown of Doctor’s Medical Center, doctors and patients have dispersed to other care centers. Some have had to go only across the street in San Pablo, while others must find care much farther away in Pinole, Walnut Creek, Martinez, Concord, Oakland or Berkeley. The distance takes a toll on former patients, and that concerns some doctors.

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Lytton Casino paves its way towards DMC

A lease agreement in May between Doctors Medical Center and the Lytton San Pablo Casino netted the troubled hospital $4.6 million. The deal keeps the hospital doors open for now, but was also the beginning of what may become a land grab by local investors.

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Richmond floats plan to give DMC $15 million from Chevron project

A unanimous vote from the Richmond City Council provided a $19 million promise to fund Doctors Medical Center over the next three years. The principle plan that the council members voted on was the $15 million allocated through the Chevron Environmental & Community Investment Agreement (ECIA), a $90 million package contingent upon the company’s $1…

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