CA hospital leaders to explore a stand-alone emergency room

The latest plan to stave off the closure of Doctors Medical Center would create the only free-standing emergency room in the state, saving key services for West Contra Costa County but risking a continuation of the financial bleeding that has imperiled the local health care network. Nurses unions and doctors at DMC are decidedly against the plan, which surfaced at a public forum last week as health officials rescinded a closure notice for the facility. The medical personnel hope some combination of new funding and wage cuts can keep the hospital open in its current form, and say residents would be poorly served by any plan that significantly reduces DMC's level of care.