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SAN PABLO —A hospital that provides the majority of emergency care to West Contra Costa County residents could be shut down unless voters approve Measure D, a $1 per week parcel tax that would fund hospital operations, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia and West Contra Costa Healthcare District officials said in a news conference on Thursday. 

Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo is a 234-bed hospital that sees 43,000 emergency room visitors a year and has the only helicopter pad in the area. 

“Two hundred thousand West County residents depend on the hospital and this issue is a matter of life and death,” Gioia said. 

The West Contra Costa Healthcare District owns the hospital and pays Tenet Healthcare Corp. to manage it. Tenet has decided not to renew its contract and as of July 31, the district will take over operations, Tenet spokesman David Langness said. 

To stay open, the district needs a $40 million loan to pay hospital employees and to fund operational expenses for three months, West Contra Costa Healthcare District Director Beverly Wallace said. 

If voters pass Measure D, the district would use the money generated to repay the loan, Wallace said. If the measure doesn’t pass, the hospital will be shut down, district officials said. 

The district paid an outside agency to determine the potential impact of closing the hospital. The agency’s findings were revealed in a report released at today’s news conference. The report said shutting down the hospital will have a “substantial effect on local health care providers and the public’’ and it will “disproportionately affect Kaiser Permanente, the only other medical facility in the area.’’ 

“Let me put it into perspective: people are going to die,” said Dr. Laurel Hodgson, assistant director of the emergency room at Doctors Medical Center. “By 10:15 a.m., Kaiser will be diverting ambulances to other hospitals so between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10 p.m., don’t let your kids fall off the monkey bars,’’ she said. 

The fate of Measure D will be determined by West County voters who will receive ballots sometime after May 10, according to Measure D spokesman Raymond Ehrlich. Voters must send in their ballots for this special election by June 8. 

—Bay City NewsÃ