Could the 2 Salinas Area Hospitals Work Together and Form a Partnership?

Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System and Natividad Medical Center are the two hospitals that serve the Salinas area. Recently the two hospitals have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to discuss the possibility of partnering.

The SVMH board president Harry Wardwell announced Tuesday that it would be in everyone’s best interest to integrate the two healthcare systems. Wardwell said the SVMH board reached a unanimous decision to proceed with a partnership. Last week, SVMH sent a letter of intent to the Chair of the Board of Supervisors.

As Central Coast News has reported in the past, Natividad has not been forthcoming with its financials, even though it is a publicly funded hospital. Part of the letter of intent that was sent to Natividad is requesting financial information.

Eventually, if the partnership works, it would be controlled by a joint powers authority made up of SVMH Board of Directors and Monterey County supervisors.

Last year, Natividad was awarded the right to have the counties only trauma center, a point of contention between the the hospitals during the partnership talks.