Santa Clara County to buy Regional Medical Center for $175 million to preserve services

After months of fighting to save Regional Medical Center’s services, Santa Clara County leaders figured out how to stop the owner of the hospital from gutting them: they plan to buy it.

County officials today announced their intent to buy the hospital from HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest hospital corporation, for $175 million. County Executive James Williams said the county approached HCA about the deal and both sides agreed the price was fair. The funding is coming from a one-time reimbursement of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Williams said the county can also issue lease revenue bonds using Regional itself as collateral. He added that the county can tap into public hospital related revenue streams to fund the ongoing expense of running the hospital.