San José Spotlight’s recent coverage of potential health care closures in Santa Clara County should be a wake-up call. When hospitals like Hazel Hawkins close in rural communities like Hollister, the impact doesn’t stay contained. Patients are forced to travel farther, emergency rooms like St. Louise Regional in Gilroy become overcrowded and patient care suffers. Here in Santa Clara County, we’re already seeing how fragile our health care system is. Federal budget cuts are threatening critical funding hospitals rely on to keep emergency departments staffed and lifesaving services available. When that support disappears, hospitals are forced to make impossible decisions...