Magdalena Carrasco, a former San Jose councilmember, once joined protests against one company’s hold over health care on the East Side. Today she’s helping HCA Healthcare make its most criticized move yet. Carrasco, who left office in 2022 after serving two terms as East San Jose’s representative, now lobbies city officials and her former colleagues...
East San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza has a bright future
As the Mexican Heritage Plaza celebrates its 25th anniversary, its operators continue to strive for a brighter future for East San Jose residents. The School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and its partners are bringing health care, affordable housing and economic development to the Mayfair neighborhood — as well as creating...
East San Jose hospital loses services while richer areas thrive
A private health company plans to reduce lifesaving care at an East San Jose hospital as it expands another hospital in a wealthier part of the city. HCA Healthcare is increasing the number of acute care beds at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose’s Cambrian neighborhood on the West Side, close to Los Gatos. Company representatives said...
East San Jose hospital won’t close trauma center amid scrutiny
East San Jose may keep its only medical trauma center after all — just not in the same form. Regional Medical Center — the private hospital owned by for-profit company HCA Healthcare — is walking back the planned closures of its trauma, heart attack and stroke care services which have kept residents alive in that...
Heat scorches East San Jose playground equipment
An 18-foot-tall chicken named Chiquita overlooks children racing across the playground, while Alexandra Villalobos sits on a picnic blanket with her 12-year-old son Max at Emma Prusch Farm Park in East San Jose. Her two younger children are using the newly renovated playground, and Villalobos has warned them to avoid the sizzling-hot metal slides and...
State won’t stop closure of East San Jose hospital services
Despite urgent pleas by county leaders and local activists, state officials won’t intervene in the closure of lifesaving hospital services in East San Jose. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) told Bay Area state legislators that the state has no authority to deny the closure or reduction of services at Regional Medical Center because these...
East San Jose homeowners struggle with homeless neighbors
In the heart of East San Jose, eight cars line a popular street — some with boxes stacked on top or attached wagons — filled with the belongings of homeless people such as Francisco Pulido. The constant clashes he had with his mom and stepdad compelled him to leave home. The 37-year-old has lived in...
State AG asked to intervene in East San Jose trauma center closure
Vulnerable patients and community health advocates are calling on California’s top cop to stop a private health corporation from cutting one of Santa Clara County’s only trauma centers. The financially-driven closure of Regional Medical Center’s life-saving services in East San Jose is discriminatory, argues a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Rob Bonta, since it mostly...
East San Jose teachers demand raises to meet cost of living
Teachers in one San Jose high school district are calling for higher wages to keep up with the increasing cost of living — as the district struggles with an anticipated multimillion-dollar budget deficit. The East Side Union High School District, which serves more than 24,000 students, is offering its teachers a 1.1% raise for the...
The Biz Beat: San Jose drive-thru serves authentic Mexican food
Who among us has not had a late evening or early morning craving for great Mexican food? Happily, San Jose’s Jalisco Taqueria is there to serve, with a drive-thru open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays with a wide selection of authentic dishes cooked fresh daily. “I don’t know a lot of places where...