San Ramon Regional celebrates 15th anniversary San Ramon Regional celebrates 15th anniversary (February 25, 2005)

Hospital is surgical innovator in fast-growing population center
by Jeb Bing

San Ramon Regional Medical Center has marked its 15th anniversary with a $15,000 contribution to the American Heart Association for automated external defibrillators to be used in public schools, libraries, senior centers and police and fire stations.

Gary Sloan, the hospital's chief executive officer, said the defibrillators are another technological improvement in health care. A board member of the heart association, he said the contribution is part of the hospital's community outreach efforts to offer patient care on an emergency basis throughout the region it serves.

In an interview, Sloan said the hospital was originally planned to be built near the Interstate 580/680 interchange.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., a publicly traded company, decided instead to build the hospital in San Ramon on Norris Canyon Boulevard, a largely undeveloped area that planners projected as the center of a surging population growth in the years ahead.

"That was a great decision because, as we know now, San Ramon and the communities around it have grown faster than anyone thought back in 1990, and the population boom is continuing," Sloan said. "That's why we didn't call this the San Ramon Community Hospital because we knew we'd be serving a much larger population all along the I-680 corridor."

Today, the 123-bed hospital is a leader in a number of health care specialties, including voice-activated robotic surgery, spinal fusion and a new procedure called "beating-heart cardiac surgery."

"We're the first hospital in Northern California to perform this type of surgery," Sloan said. "It used to be that the surgeon had to stop the heart and circulate the blood outside the body. This technique allows the heart to continue beating while the doctor isolates the section that needs to be repaired. It's far better and safer because you never stop the heart."

With 500 primary care physicians and specialists certified to use San Ramon Regional, Sloan said the hospital caters to a younger population base in the developing San Ramon area, and attracts younger medical professionals.

"We're truly a unique hospital in a unique community, one with a still-young population but also an area where the fastest growing age bracket is now 45-54." As the demographics change, he said the hospital will need to add more operating rooms and expand its emergency care to accommodate an older patient base. For now, the hospital thrives on its expanded outpatient services, including an outpatient surgery center that allows many patients to have minor surgeries and be discharged the same day.

"Even the number of days patients must stay overnight has been shortened," Sloan said. "It used to be that when you came in for hip surgery, which was a very innovative procedure when we opened 15 years ago, you'd have to stay in the hospital for at least two weeks. You wouldn't even be allowed to stand on that hip for a week and a half, and it was a very long and painful recovery process."

"Now we do hip surgeries and you're out of the hospital and walking again in three to five days," he added. "Within the next 15 years, it will become outpatient surgery and you'll go home the same day."

Sloan, who has been a hospital manager with Tenet since 1986, said San Ramon Regional is one of only a few hospitals the corporation has built, with a growth strategy that usually has the company acquiring existing medical facilities. San Ramon also is considered a model Tenet hospital, "a jewel in the hospital chain."

He said Tenet has undergone several investigations over pricing policies and Medicare billing errors, but that the corporation is in the process of settling its disputes with federal agencies. He said Tenet has also sold poorly performing hospitals in the last several years to improve its profitability.

"Two out of every three hospitals in California are losing money," Sloan said. "Tenet, because of its purchasing power, management capabilities, patient volume and shared medical technology strengths can stay on top. San Ramon Regional has always been extraordinary and profitable and we expect that to continue."

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