West County voters to decide on parcel tax to save Doctors Medical Center

Residents of West Contra Costa County will vote this fall on a special parcel tax to support the ailing Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo. The five-member West Contra Costa County Healthcare District board, the elected body that oversees the public hospital’s operations, voted unanimously last week to approve a ballot measure that would raise over $5 million per year to pay for the hospital’s continued operations.

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Doctor’s Medical Center faces grim prognosis

What would happen if West Contra Costa County’s largest hospital was forced to shut its doors or seriously downgrade its emergency room operations? It would be very bad, according to a study released last week by the county health department’s Emergency Medical Services agency. Yet hospital officials say a permanent closure of Doctor’s Medical Center San Pablo, whose largely low-income and elderly patient population makes it difficult to run profitably, is looming unless they are able to secure state or other funding soon.

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