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After receiving 90 days' notice of the Dec. 9 closure, approximately 200 nurses, doctors, hospital workers and community members held picket signs as they rallied outside of the medical center, one of the organizers of the demonstration said.

Michael Elliott, organizing director of South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, said the protest was mainly organized by three large coalitions of community members and labor unions.

Save San Jose Medical Center, a grass-roots organization, was created in 1999 after the owners of the hospital announced its planned closure in 2007, has been persistent in fighting to keep the hospital open, he said.

The Service Employee International Union Local 250 chapter, one of the Bay Area's largest healthcare workers' unions with 100,000 members -- excluding doctors and nurses, and the California Nurses Association are among the groups organizing the demonstration, Elliott said.

The purpose of the project was to let Hospital Corporation of America, which owns the medical center, know that it cannot close down the hospital, he said.

"You can run a business in a way that's thoughtful and take in the needs of the community and its people," Elliot said. "We're not the first community that this happened to. They run it like they're selling clothes. They look only at profit margin and not at more important issues."

Patty Lasky, the labor representative for the California Nurses Association who represents registered nurses at San Jose Medial Center, said many people want the hospital to stay open.

"People are coming out of woodwork to oppose the closure," Lasky said. "We're giving people an opportunity to come together to have their voices heard."

Aspirations

Jean Suyenaga, a senior laboratory assistant for the clinical lab at the hospital, said she has been working for the medical center for 16 years.

"The community has had very little time to adjust planning emergency services," Suyenaga said. "This is one of the (three) trauma centers in San Jose. The other two will be very heavily impacted when (San Jose Medical Center) closes."

Many of the hospital's employees will be left without jobs, she said.

"With only 90 days' notice, it gives very little time for employees to find safe landing," Suyenaga said. "We're hoping to get enough pressure on (the Hospital Corporation of America) to delay closure or to go back to the original date of closure in 2007."

We would rather see the (Hospital Corporation of America) work with community and employees to find a better alternative to closing."

Rev. Bill Leininger, who is with the Interfaith Council and is on the on the human concerns commission for the Diocese Council in San Jose, said he has been with Save San Jose Medical Center for six years.

He said six years ago the coalition saw that the closing of the hospital was ultimately going to happen.

They hoped to form a committee to conduct a study on what impact the closure of the hospital would create, Leininger said.

"We're aiming at showing enough community concern and support to put pressure on the city council and supervisors to take action," he said. "It might mean putting off closure for a year. The only leverage we (have) is that the hospital is zoned for hospital use only," Leininger said.

He said he hopes the protest will be successful.

"The only thing we (have) is people on the street." Leininger said over the protesters' chants of "We're healthcare workers fighting back."

Dora Calpo, who showed up to the demonstration in her blue hospital scrubs, said she has worked at San Jose Medical Center as a registered nurse for the past 29 years.

"This is very much a part of my life," she said as she choked back on tears. "I love this place. It's a second family away from home."

She said she is upset because the hospital closing affects everyone in the community.

"The community deserves (to have a good trauma center)," Calpo said. "It can happen to anyone. I hope no one needs a trauma center."

Loretta Grigsby, a retired nurse who worked at the medical center from 1972 to 1995, said she was at the protest to try to save the hospital and keep it in the community.

"The community needs it," she said. "Where will they go if there is no hospital here? (San Jose) State (University), for one instance, and a lot of elderly people around here -- they need a place to go."

Sue Cunningham, a protester with the California Nurses Association who was sitting down because she was recovering from gall bladder surgery, said the Hospital Corporation of America's closure of the medical center is financially motivated. The necessity of the hospital

Roz Dean, who is looked upon as the leader of Save San Jose Medical Center, said the hospital has been there since 1923, and people depend on it.

The hospital is vital to "the elderly that live nearby at the senior housing buildings and people who don't drive and take public transportation," she said.

The trauma center is an institution, Dean said.

"The police department want it, the fire department want it," she said. "If it closes, people will die because of the time element."

Percival Acosta, who was at the demonstration with the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry, said he was at the protest because he wants the hospital to stay open.

"They saved my life in the last few years," he said.

In the summer of 1988, Acosta said a deer-hunting rifl e took of half of his left forearm. The trauma center was able to reattach it and he now has full use of his arm, he said.

Acosta said more importantly, in 1997, he was put in a coma from a motorcycle accident while going 85 mph without wearing a helmet. His six-week recovery was one of the fastest the hospital has ever seen, he said.

"God was on my side," Acosta said. "It was mainly because of the personnel at this hospital. They knew what they were doing. I even remember one of the therapy nurses that helped me. If I had to go to a hospital (farther) away, I wouldn't have lived."

Esther Gutierrez, a mother of five children, said she lives downtown and the hospital is convenient for her and her children.

"(My son) has asthma," Gutierrez said as cars drove by honking to support the demonstrators. "I take him to the emergency room here. It's walking distance from my house."

Chloe Dorvilias, an undeclared freshman at SJSU, said she was at the protest to support her mother, who works at the hospital.

Dorvilias said having the medical center is convenient because the campus' health center is not open at all hours.

"If I had something wrong, I can just take the bus here," she said.

Politicians and medical centers

Manny Diaz, state assemblymember for the 23rd District, which includes SJSU and the medical center, said Hospital Corporation of America should have the decency to give the community and elected officials time to find alternatives instead of closing the hospital.

"Downtown, central San Jose is growing -- the need for healthcare is growing," Diaz said. "The quality and programs are deteriorating. They're losing money because they want to lose money. Let someone else operating."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2874 last week. The bill was written by Diaz in hopes of giving communities more time to adjust to hospital closures, he said.

"That bill would have given 180 days to look for options," Diaz said.

The current law allows hospitals to announce closure a minimum of 90 days before the actual closing date, he said.

"I think it says that the governor does not understand healthcare in our community," he said. "Fifty hospitals will close in California within the next fi ve years. (The 180 days) will help the community adjust."

Sally Lieber, state assemblymember for the 22nd District, said she came to support the community and call for accountability for the hospital and the corporation that runs the hospital.

"I think first and foremost (it's) a betrayal of the public's trust," she said. The hospital was to be closed in 2007, she said, now it's closing for financial reasons.

"I think it's important to have a strong show of support for the community," Lieber said. "The corporation may have their own interests, be we need to show that we have an interest for the welfare of the community."

Sandy Perry, outreach director for Community Homeless Alliance Ministry at First Christian Church, protested with Save San Jose Medical Center and said the protest was successful.

"We were able to get different organizations, homeless organizations, labor organizations to say 'We need a hospital downtown,' " he said. "There's already a shortage of emergency rooms." I

t's wrong to put profit in front of healthcare, Perry said.

"Healthcare is an economic human right and it's violated in America," he said.

"When we let people die to let others profit, we've lost our soul."

Elliott, organizing director for South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council said he hopes to see more people coming out to support the keeping the hospital open.

"I think (Hospital Corporation of America) is in for a big fight," he said. "The community reaction -- people feel offended. People here are fighters. We're not used to having the terms of our healthcare dictated to them."