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Population Boom Lures Caregivers
By Sarah Jane Tribble
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Another hospital may be in the works for eastern Contra Costa County, where the medical industry is trying to keep up with the exploding population.
The John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System confirmed this week that it is evaluating the feasibility of opening an acute-care hospital on its 58-acre Brentwood medical campus. Officials plan to decide sometime in 2006 whether to build the facility.
"We need to look at what other services to bring to the campus," said Gary Boyd, chief operating officer for the Brentwood Medical Center.
If approved, John Muir would join several other medical groups jump-starting efforts to expand in East County. Sutter-Delta Medical Center in Antioch, currently the only acute-care hospital in eastern Contra Costa, completed a new $25 million expansion this year that included more emphasis on women's services.
Kaiser-Permanente recently finished an outpatient medical center in southeast Antioch and plans to open a full-fledged hospital by November 2007.
Kaiser-Permanente's 75-acre campus is within 5 miles of John Muir's property and both would be competing for the same customers, said Brentwood Economic Development Manager Linda Maurer.
"John Muir is trying to get their foothold in East County and at the same time Kaiser is trying," Maurer said. "It absolutely has everything to do with the market realities out here."
The city, which has an estimated 45,000 people, is growing faster than state, county and local officials expected and that means services are coming to the area sooner than anticipated, she said. At build-out, Brentwood expects to have a population of 75,000, Maurer said.
The population surge means an increase in health insurance enrollees and, in turn, hospital patients. Many insurance enrollees pick plans each year during their employer's open enrollment period and may shift providers depending on doctor and hospital locations.
Dr. Judy Lively, Kaiser physician-in-chief, said the health systems are "responding to the fact that East County is thriving and booming, and we're doing our best to provide our services to people who choose us."
John Muir's feasibility study, which is in the early stages, will re-evaluate how quickly the population is growing and the number of physicians needed to serve the area, said company spokeswoman Barbara Hepner.
The health system opened a three-story medical building on the property this year, and its family physicians and urgent care center there see about 2,600 patients a month, Boyd said. Development of the property comes significantly earlier than city officials had expected when they first approved a development plan. A Brentwood planning commission memo from May 2001 states that "Muir does not propose to provide any medical uses on the site prior to 20 years out."
At the time, city officials required construction of the current medical office building to begin within three years and be in use before any other non-medical buildings were built on the property.
The city has not demanded any other buildings, including the hospital, to be built within a certain time frame, said Erik Nolthenius, a senior planner with the city. The hospital system also has not contacted the city recently to update plans, he said.
Still, the health system's 2001 development agreement provides a broad picture of what could be seen on the property off Balfour Road west of Concord Avenue: A medical campus with eight medical buildings, including a six-story, 100-bed hospital.
The site could also include an internal road, parking lots and a helicopter pad that is expected to be used for two to three trips a month. At the time, the city reviewed possible noise levels for the helicopter pad and encouraged the builders not to obstruct views of Mount Diablo and the foothills. A traffic study was also conducted.
Permitted uses for the other buildings include offices, retail stores, day-care facilities and possibly restaurants.
[back to top](Posted October 18, 2005)