EDITORIAL: Sequoia Hospital sets new course EDITORIAL: Sequoia Hospital sets new course (May 05, 2004)

After months of uncertainty, Sequoia Hospital and its operator, Catholic Healthcare West, thankfully have made a firm commitment to rebuild the 54-year-old hospital at its current site on the Alameda de las Pulgas in Redwood City.

The $130 million plan includes a new 76-bed hospital tower with six operating rooms and a retrofit of 54 rooms in the existing hospital, which is welcome news to county officials, who are concerned that expansion by members-only competitors like the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Kaiser Permanente could eventually run Sequoia's open-to-everyone model out of business.

It is that concern that sparked county Supervisor Jerry Hill to call a series of meetings of health-care providers to discuss the impact of Kaiser's expansion of its Redwood City hospital and Palo Alto Medical's announced intention to build a 100-plus-bed facility in either Redwood City or San Carlos. Supervisor Hill and others have questioned whether south San Mateo County can support such a boost in the number of hospital beds and medical services.

A few months ago, Sequoia's future looked anything but rosy. Although it had announced its intention to comply with state seismic upgrade requirements by building a new hospital near the Bayshore Freeway in Redwood City, Sequoia had difficulty pinning down a site. The delay and seeming lack of commitment to build a new hospital led members of Sequoia's elite cardiac team, the hospital's top revenue-producer, to announce their intention to move to Palo Alto Medical Foundation when its new hospital opens, probably in about four years.

But now the mood at Sequoia has changed dramatically. Glenna Vaskelis, the hospital's president, impressed a standing-room-only crowd of supporters when she announced the expansion plans two weeks ago, but equally impressive was the strong support voiced by Catholic Healthcare West officials, who pledged financial backing of the project. And although CHW is expected to supply the bulk of the funds needed, it is expected that the Sequoia Healthcare District, which shares oversight of the hospital with CHW, will invest a portion of its $50 million savings in the new facility. The district receives about $4 million annually from residents of Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont and nearby unincorporated areas.

Phase one of the plan calls for building a new parking garage by 2006, followed by a medical office building the next year and the new hospital tower by 2009. The existing building that will house additional beds will be retrofitted by 2012. The new complex will do away with "cardiac hill," the familiar steep grade that faces visitors who use the lower parking lot.

When it is completed, Sequoia's new hospital, and the retrofit of the older rooms and facilities, will give South County residents and physicians a convenient location to receive and practice top-quality medical care. We applaud the Sequoia and CHW officials who have made the commitment to keep this important community hospital viable and open for residents of the Midpeninsula.

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