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El Camino Hospital's board (Silicon Valley) approved to purchase a cyberknife*** El Camino Hospital hospital spokeswoman Judy Twitchell…said the hospital’s board has not put any projects on hold because of economic conditions, and last month it approved the purchase of an Accuray CyberKnife, a device that allows noninvasive removal of tumors, at a cost of $11 million. *** http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/04/06/story2.html?b=1238990400^1805270 Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal Cathy Weselby Apr 3, 2009 Hospitals keep on building in Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is showing little evidence of the slowdown in hospital construction reported in other parts of the Golden State. With the exception of Sutter Health’s plan for a hospital in San Carlos, millions of dollars in projects are going full-steam ahead. A California Hospital Association study shows 41 percent of the state’s hospitals have halted planned construction or major equipment purchases. One-fourth reportedly have been unable to secure financing for projects. Local hospital officials say that while they remain mindful of the current fundraising climate, they are pressing ahead with many of their plans. The push for seismic upgrades is driving construction projects at El Camino Hospital and Stanford Hospital & Clinics, while the need to expand with the growing community in East San Jose is the impetus for the new patient wing at Regional Medical Center of San Jose. Stanford Hospital & Clinics has the largest expansion project, with plans for a new 600-bed hospital that meets seismic safety standards and an expanded emergency department at a cost of $2.5 billion. The hospital expansion in Palo Alto has become embroiled in debate, along with plans to expand Stanford Shopping Center and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, over concerns that the projects will increase traffic and the need for municipal services. “The city has a lengthy list of items that they would like to get in relation to this process that have nothing to do with health care,” said Shelley Hebert, executive director for public affairs at Stanford Hospital. “We hope that the council and the community will recognize that health care is what’s at stake. Hebert said the existing emergency room was built for less than half the patient volume it currently processes. The new plans call for tripling the size of the emergency department. “People should be as concerned about gridlock inside the hospital as they are outside the hospital,” Hebert said. El Camino Hospital will unveil its new seismically compliant 300-bed hospital this fall. Construction on the $480 million project is 90 percent complete, according to hospital spokeswoman Judy Twitchell. The project is funded by a combination of voter-approved general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, philanthropic contributions and the hospital’s cash reserves. Twitchell said the hospital’s board has not put any projects on hold because of economic conditions, and last month it approved the purchase of an Accuray CyberKnife, a device that allows noninvasive removal of tumors, at a cost of $11 million. San Jose hospitals continue to expand At Regional Medical Center of San Jose, steel girders are in place for the new two-story patient wing. Regional Medical CEO Bill Gilbert said the $47 million wing would have 33 acute care beds on the first floor, with the second floor shelled for future expansion. “As the community grows, we’ll be able to expand,” Gilbert said. Other construction projects include expanding an operating room for neurosurgery and the new $8 million electrophysiology lab that opened in February. Another San Jose hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, is also moving forward with a $3 million renovation of its clinical lab, said CEO Bill Pich |
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