The Berkeley City Council passed a resolution Tuesday against Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health's plan to close Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, Calif., according to a KRON news report.
Sutter plans to close the Berkeley hospital by 2030. California law requires hospitals to meet certain seismic standards by Jan. 1, 2030, and Alta Bates currently does not meet the required standards. In a letter to the Berkeley City Council, Alta Bates CEO Chuck Prosper said it is infeasible for the hospital to be retrofitted by the last day of 2029.
On Tuesday, council members said shutting down the hospital poses a threat to public safety due to the hospital's high utilization rate for acute care services.
Alta Bates employees also voiced concerns during the meeting. One of those employees was Eric Coch, who has been a nurse at Alta Bates for 15 years. He said the hospital is always full and shutting down the facility poses a "great endangerment" to the city of Berkeley, according to The Daily Californian.
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