Santa Clara County leaders have approved a $315 million effort to acquire and integrate Regional Medical Center into California’s second largest public hospital system — and restore the lifesaving care a for-profit corporation systematically cut from East San Jose.
While the county is still finalizing the agreement with HCA Healthcare , the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to appropriate the money in its health department budget — with $175 million going toward acquiring the hospital.
Officials allocated up to $30 million to purchase independently-owned medical office buildings nearby, and another $10 million for broker fees and inspections. Up to $20 million will be used to buy and implement electronic health record software. Another $80 million will fund the first few months of operating Regional Medical Center, as the county incurs costs of services while waiting to get reimbursed by commercial insurance, Medi-Cal and Medicare…