New Kaiser Permanente hospital in Redwood City to debut Tuesday

What will be the parking for this new hospital. Will we have to walk from the parking lot next to Optics, or are you planning a new parking lot closer to the neww hospital? A member of Kaiser since 1953.

"The nonprofit health organization began construction ..."
To the best of my knowledge, the only part of Kaiser Permanente that is <non-profit> is the headquarters organization. All hospitals, doctors and services like optometry and audiology operate under contract. That explains the coast in many areas and why audiology and optometry charge about as much as competing retailer services.

I, too, wonder where Kaiser expects people to park when using this new building. I am also quite dismayed that the new hospital has 63 fewer beds than the old one. What a shame. That will inevitably lead to increased pressure to either not admit people who really need to be admitted and to send people home who should not really be sent home that soon. The population of the Mid-Peninsula has grown quite a bit since the old hospital was built in 1970.

Kaiser makes billions in profits, and this is the best they can do? They really need to build a few more hospitals and many more clinics and provide much more parking for their members and staff.

The reason for fewer beds is that they dont want patients in the hospital. They want your care provided by your families at home where it doesn't cost anything. Also why they have beds for families in the room. Also the expanded emergency department which they keep you in instead of admitting you to the hospital. You might have to show up two or three times before you are admitted. And pay that hefty copay each time too! All to increase their profit, which is currently $12 billion PER DAY. You are going to have to really advocate for yourselves to get the care you need. Kaiser's plan is to keep as much of your premiums as they can which means giving you less care. "thrive" indeed.

The previous RN hit it on the head! Collecting your premiums and gathering in your ever rising copays lines the pockets of the CEOs. No beds- no need to have staff or physicians to care for you... so you go home very quickly if you are hospitalized ( at all) and with your loved ones being expected to "nurse" you back to health. Everything's beautiful and shiney and looks great! Behind it all is a corporation trying to keep you at arms length and hoping you never have to be seen. Insist on receiving the care you pay for and deserve. Remain proactive for yourselves. Don't allow them the opportunity to deny you proper treatment.

Kaiser Permanente has this answer regarding parking at the Redwood City complex:
Most of the outpatient clinics in the medical center complex are not moving, so parking for them is unaffected. For the new hospital, which is immediately adjacent to the old hospital tower, there is a repaved parking lot on Walnut Street, directly across from the new emergency walk-in entrance.

Profits? Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit organization.

And they are limited to what they can spend on non-benefit expenses by the Affordable Care Act.

The parking and access problem is not the new hospital. It's access to Cypress and the outpatient lab (which I understand is going to stay in the current hospital building. Just try to get into Cypress if you are disabled or a slow walking person of any age...long walks, no close shuttle stops, no good drop off area. Folks use the very small area on Maple as a parking area and leave cars unattended. Saw a Kaiser employee in scrubs do it last week.

Closing Birch to internal medicine just adds to the problem. Why not reconfigure the area between the MRI building and Oak to make this campus work effectively for outpatient clinics? Why not talk with the folks using the clinics to find out what would work? If there are plans, why not communicate with RWC members about them?

I have been a very satisfied member of Kaiser for more than 40 years.
What's all this bad-mouthing about?