HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Resolution 08-065RESOLUTION NO. 08-065
A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA
IN SUPPORT OF MEASURE A
WHEREAS, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) has been serving the health
care needs of the residents of Santa Clara County for over 130 years, and;
WHEREAS, one in four residents of Santa Clara County receives medical care from
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center over a four year period; and;
WHEREAS, Santa Clara County has only one safety net provider of medical care, Santa
Clara Valley Medical Center; and;
WHEREAS, SCVMC is one of only two burn-trauma centers north of Los Angeles and
is a high level trauma center for both adults and children; and;
WHEREAS, last year, SCVMC delivered nearly 6,000 babies; and;
WHEREAS, California law mandates that all hospitals in the State meet seismic safety
standards which require that by 2013, hospital buildings are to remain standing and occupants
able to exit safely and, by 2030, buildings are to remain operational and capable of providing
acute-care medical services to the public; and;
WHEREAS, more than half of SCVMC's 524 acute care patient beds are at risk of
closure due to location in seismically non-compliant buildings, and;
WHEREAS, without sufficient inpatient beds, emergency room wait-times and
ambulance diversions throughout the community would spike upward; and;
WHEREAS, missing the mandated seismic standard deadline would result in SCVMC
having to close half of its 524 patient beds; thereby reducing its capacity for trauma, burn
treatment and regional disaster response; and
WHEREAS, having to reduce half of SCVMC's bed capacity would mean that, in 2013,
approximately 11,000 people requiring hospitalization would be turned away, in a community
which already has an inadequate number of hospital beds. Santa Clara County already has
among the lowest ratio of available hospital beds per 1,000 residents of any urban region in the
state or nation; and;
WHEREAS, SCVMC and its partners provided crucial medical services to 200,000
residents of Santa Clara County in 2007 and will exceed that number in 2008
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Saratoga hereby endorses Measure
A, placed on the November 2008 general election ballot by the County of Santa Clara. Measure
A will, if approved by 2/3 of Santa Clara County Voters, raise $840,000,000 to prevent the state
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mandated shutdown of more than half of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's (SCVMC) patient
beds, including the trauma and burn center, by rebuilding, retrofitting and improving the
earthquake safety of the hospital to meet state seismic safety laws.
The above and foregoing resolution was passed and adopted by the Saratoga City Council at a
regular meeting held on the 15`h day of October 2008, by the following vote:
AYES:Councilmember Aileen Kao, Jill Hunter, Kathleen King, Vice Mayor Chuck Page,
Mayor Ann Waltonsmith
NOES: None
ABSENT:None
ABSTAIN:None
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Ann Waltonsmith, Mayor
AT
G~ Sullivan, Acting City Clerk
Deborah Bretschneider,Deputy City Clerk
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