Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health will close Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, Calif., in 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 recent letter to Berkeley City Council, Alta Bates CEO Chuck Prosper said it is infeasible for the hospital to be retrofitted by the last day of 2029, according to a KRON news report.
The acute care and emergency services offered at the Berkeley hospital will be consolidated at Sutter's hospital in Oakland, Calif.
Mr. Prosper indicated in his letter that shutting down the hospital makes sense even without the seismic standards compliance issue.
"Regardless of the seismic deadline, we must adapt to changes in healthcare if we are to survive in today's world. Operating two full service hospitals less than three miles apart is inefficient and inhibits our ability to be most affordable to patients," said Mr. Prosper.
Sutter plans to offer certain services in Berkeley after 2029. "We envision Berkeley as our center for outpatient care in the East Bay," wrote Mr. Prosper in the letter.
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