Emergency Care Options Dwindle in the East Bay | KQED News

Many East Bay residents fear that the closure of Alta Bates' Berkeley emergency department is part of a broader trend: hospital leaders looking for cost efficiencies end up making decisions with regional consequences. With fewer hospital options, it could be increasingly challenging to get medical care for emergencies like gunshot wounds, delivering babies and heart attacks. While Berkeley residents who have come to rely on having a hospital in town are dismayed by the impending move, residents who live farther away - in Richmond, for example - are also worried about what the changes will mean for their health care options. “The harder you make it to get that care, the more difficult it's going to be and the more of a need it's going to be,” said Marty Lynch, CEO of Lifelong Urgent Care. “There's no question that folks in Richmond, folks in San Pablo, need a good system of emergency care.” Read more: https://www.kqed.org/news/11679167/video-emergency-care-options-dwindle-in-the-east-bay Video: Bo Kovitz and Hao Guo