MOUNTAIN VIEW — A subsidiary of El Camino Hospital has offered to buy five health clinics for $1.27 million from Verity Medical Foundation, whose parent company is going through bankruptcy.
The El Camino Hospital Board voted unanimously Wednesday evening to submit an offer on behalf of Silicon Valley Medical Development for Good Samaritan Clinic, McKee Clinic, and Willow Glen Clinic in San Jose, Gilroy Primary Care, and Morgan Hill Medical Associates.
If the bankruptcy court approves the sale, it is expected to close April 1, according to a spokesperson for Silicon Valley Medical Development.
It’s unclear whether the clinics will close during the ownership transition.
“We seek to minimize a gap in service,” Kris Naidl, a spokesperson for Silicon Valley Medical Development (SJMG), said in an email. “We will work collaboratively with SJMG physicians and other community organizations to best preserve the patient-physician relationships in place and provide continuity of care with as little disruption as possible.”
Verity Health System has declined to comment on whether the eight clinics owned by its subsidiary, Verity Medical Foundation, will be closed. But in a Jan. 25 letter to employees, the company said Verity Medical Foundation “will permanently cease its operation” of the clinics and layoffs are likely to begin starting March 31.
The possible closure of the clinics is causing nervousness among their patients and employees.
Several employees of the clinics asked the El Camino Hospital board Wednesday to commit to hiring them and fellow workers.
“I have worked for Verity Health and San Jose Medical Group for 29 years,” said Rena Schwartzberg, a patient services representative at one of the facilities, where she is also a patient. “I got into the field of healthcare because I like helping people. But all my dedication and compassion is quickly coming to an end. It’s a scary time for me and my coworkers. We have so many questions but so few answers.”
Silicon Valley Medical Development says it will enter into an agreement with the San Jose Medical Group, which employs the clinics’ physicians.
But that doesn’t include the clinics’ other staff employees, like clerical employees, medical assistants, patient service representatives, medical records clerks and others.
Sean Wherley, spokesman for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, said the union represents 146 workers at the five clinics Silicon Valley Medical Development is hoping to buy and 34 at the three other clinics.
“The voters who have supported the El Camino Hospital District with their tax dollars over the years don’t want to see caregivers thrown out of their jobs after dedicating their careers to these clinics,” Wherley said in an email. “We’re calling on the El Camino Board to conduct this expansion in a way that will make the District proud. So far it seems embarrassingly callous and greedy.”
Several elected officials submitted letters asking the hospital board to transition current employees into new jobs after the facilities reopen. Among those sending the letters were Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and Santa Clara supervisors Dave Cortese and Susan Ellenberg.
Naidl said the pending purchase agreement “does not include the transfer of employees; however, Verity employees are encouraged to apply for open positions with SVMD.”
Silicon Valley Medical Development will be reviewing staffing needs after the transition and follow its normal employment process, Naidl said. It currently operates clinics in Mountain View, San Jose, Los Gatos and Cupertino.
Verity Health System filed for bankruptcy in August and is in the process of selling two hospitals to Santa Clara County. A Southern California-based company, KPC Group, has offered to buy four other Verity hospitals.
Contact Thy Vo at 408-200-1055 or tvo@bayareanewsgroup.com.