John Muir Health

John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek is a 554-bed acute care facility that is designated as a level II trauma center, the only trauma center for Contra Costa County and portions of Solano County. Recognized as one of the region's premier health care providers,[2] its areas of specialty include high- and low-risk obstetrics, orthopedics, rehabilitation, neurosciences, cardiac care, and cancer care. In spring 2011, The Tom and Billie Long Patient Care Tower, with 230 private rooms opened. Key areas of expansion include emergency, trauma, imaging, lab, surgery, critical care, neonatal intensive care unit, birth center, orthopedics and rehabilitation.

John Muir Medical Center, Concord, is a 244-bed acute care facility that serves Contra Costa and southern Solano counties. The medical center is a center for cancer care and cardiovascular care, including open heart surgery and interventional cardiology. Other areas of specialty include general surgery, orthopedic and neurology programs. In November 2010, The Hofmann Family Patient Care Tower opened, housing private patient rooms, a centralized cardiovascular institute and a new emergency department.

On July 28, 2011, Becker's Hospital Review listed John Muir Medical Center, Concord under 60 Hospitals With Great Orthopedic Programs. The hospital's orthopedic department includes joint replacement, extremity care, spinal surgery and sports medicine. The hospital's spine surgeons perform operations for patients who need surgical intervention.[3]

The John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek opened in 1965 after the efforts of several local doctors, who received financing in part from a Hill–Burton Act grant.[4]

Concord Hospital was established in 1930, in a modest one-story home at 2334 Almond Avenue (which exists to this day and is used as a private residence). Concord Hospital was founded by Edna Haywood, a nurse; the facility would expand into a two-story hospital. In 1972, further expansion led to the creation and construction of Mount Diablo Hospital/Medical Center.[5][6]

In 1997, John Muir Medical Center merged with Mt. Diablo Medical Center, based in neighboring Concord, to form the John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health Network. Because Mt. Diablo was a publicly-run facility, residents of the Mt. Diablo service area needed to approve the merger by popular vote, which they did in 1996.[7] In 2005, the system adopted its current name to further define itself as one common healthcare system.[8]

On January 13, 2022, John Muir Health was sued by Dr. Alicia Kalamas who alleged that institutional failures led to the death of a child and several adult patients. She alleged that profit motives interfered with patient care decisions. The hospital denied wrongdoing and stated that patient safety was a top priority.[9]

On April 7, 2022, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an 8 ½ page article exposing how John Muir's Walnut Creek hospital performed a complex surgery on a child, Ailee Jong, despite being warned that they lacked the ability to safely perform the surgery.  The article detailed how John Muir Health entered into a branding arrangement with Stanford Health but actually lacked the skills offered at Stanford's facilities. The parents then chose John Muir Medical Center thinking they were obtaining the same care as they would have received at Stanford. The child died on the operating table.[10][11]

John Muir Health responded to the article stating that the surgery was properly performed and that the child was frail and could have died even under optimal circumstances.[12] On April 15, 2022, the Medical Board of California launched an investigation of John Muir and its doctors relating to the death of Ailee Jong.[13]

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