Heart care expands to South Santa Clara County

South Santa Clara County residents with heart issues just got a better shot at lifesaving care.

Officials on Wednesday announced the rollout of cardiology care at Saint Louise Hospital in Gilroy and Valley Health Center in Morgan Hill, in a region that’s historically lacked medical access across South County’s huge swaths of farmland and open space. The hospitals will now provide patients with proactive services such as electrocardiograms (EKG) and monitoring patches to avoid heart issues from worsening.

Previously, people living in South County’s rural communities might have had to drive 35 miles north – an hour each way depending on traffic – to receive these services in San Jose. This wasn’t just problematic for older patients relying on others for transportation or working families with tight schedules. The long distance encouraged people to put off important medical visits to stay on top of worsening health issues.

“We’ve been underserved and overlooked, and this kind of care that we’re celebrating today is exciting and something we deserve as a community,” District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said at a news conference outside St. Louise, where local officials and hospital leaders gathered to announce the expansion. “If you have a parent, sibling or relative with some heart condition — you know minutes matter, seconds matter. We want to make sure you don’t have to drive an hour to San Jose or somewhere else to get the kind of services you deserve.”

The South County service expansion means doctors can diagnose, monitor and more effectively treat aortic aneurysms, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, heart rhythm disorders and valvular heart disease.

New electrocardiograms services will measure electrical activity to show heart rate and possible abnormalities. Echocardiograms will be available to provide an ultrasound of the heart and measure pumping strength and valve function. Patients will have the ability to wear monitoring patches to assess heart rhythm. And doctors will be able to monitor heart rhythm and blood pressure by having patients run on treadmills.

The expansion marks a health care milestone in the wake of devastating future federal funding cuts . Santa Clara County voters last year approved an 11th hour five-eighths-cent sales tax increase, known as Measure A, to bring the county hospitals an extra $330 million annually. This is the result of President Donald Trump’s July signing of H.R. 1, which slashes $1 billion a year from the county budget.

The announcement comes after a series of hospital purchases over the last seven years, making Santa Clara County the state’s second largest public hospital system. The county most recently purchased and restored services at Regional Medical Center last year, after years of service cuts under corporate ownership that threatened to turn East San Jose into a health desert. Before that, in 2019, officials purchased and saved three other hospitals on the verge of closure — O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, St. Louise and De Paul Health Center in Morgan Hill.

“Heart health really matters no matter where you live in Santa Clara County,” St. Louise Physician Executive Olivia Lee said at the news conference. “This is foundational cardiovascular care — essential services done well, made accessible and closer to all of us.”

Gilroy Mayor Greg Bozzo said the need is great. He and his wife have parents 82 and 85 years old, who unexpectedly checked into the hospital multiple times in the past few years. The same goes for his adopted son, who found himself at the hospital’s emergency department three times in less than two years.

“I appreciate the resources coming down here to South County,” Bozzo said at the news conference. “There was a mention earlier that sometimes resources don’t get here.”

Bozzo then gestured to the county officials beside him.

“Thank you for acknowledging that. Because we do agree with that,” he said.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.