Berkeley will spend $300,000 on a regional effort to study the impacts of a possible closure of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, reviving pre-pandemic plans.
The money, approved by the council at its Tuesday evening meeting, will go toward legal support, a study analyzing local health needs and possible options to fill the gap left by Alta Bates’ closure. This could include the creation of a healthcare district, for example, according to Mayor Jesse ArreguÃn.
In 2016, Sutter Health told then-Mayor Tom Bates that it intended to close its Berkeley location by 2030 and relocate services to the Oakland campus in Pill Hill due to the infeasibility of seismic upgrades at the Ashby Avenue location. Alta Bates operates under the Sutter Health hospital system.
But as the deadline approaches, the hospital system has not confirmed when the relocation and closure will happen, though many have been pushing for concrete plans for years.
In a statement Wednesday, a Sutter Health spokesperson said “no final decisions have been made” regarding the Berkeley closure and that planning around Sutter’s East Bay services “has taken longer than anticipated.”
“Finalizing the East Bay’s regional plan is a high priority for Sutter’s leadership and we look forward to sharing details as soon as possible,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Since Sutter’s first indication of closure, officials, hospital staff and residents have rallied to prevent the closure. Alta Bates serves 850,000 residents in its service area — 44% are people of color, and 36% are below 200% of the federal poverty level, according to a staff report.
It’s a primary hospital for Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville residents, as well as those in parts of western Contra Costa County, like El Cerrito. Going north, the next closest emergency room is about 10 miles away at the Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center, and those opposed to a closure say it would create a “hospital desert” locally.
ArreguÃn, Councilmember Sophie Hahn, Berkeley Fire Chief David Sprague and representatives from El Cerrito, Emeryville and UC Berkeley held a news conference at the hospital’s Ashby Avenue location Tuesday afternoon, saying Sutter Health is “disinvesting” in local communities by consolidating services in Oakland.
David Sprague, Berkeley Fire Chief who was born at Berkeley’s Alta Bates, said the hospital’s closure would stress an already overextended emergency response system and require the purchase of an additional two ambulances. When hospital beds are at capacity, ambulances wait at emergency rooms with patients, and other vehicles are required to drive to emergencies.
“We measure success in seconds, and a delay in definitive care at an emergency department can have a negative impact on patient outcomes,” Sprague said.
ArreguÃn said he spoke to Sutter Health leadership last summer, and said the city has always suggested the possibility of supporting finances with the seismic upgrades, but the hospital system hasn’t taken up the offer.
In the meantime, Hahn said Sutter Health has been leaving the Ashby Avenue emergency room under-resourced, and no permits have been filed to construct a new home for services in Oakland.
“We’re in the dark about their plans,” ArreguÃn said.
The council passed the item as an immediate allocation from the General Fund on Tuesday rather than a budget referral because ArreguÃn said work needs to move forward.
Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani abstained from the vote, saying there are many competing, urgent priorities that should be compared side by side in the budget process.
