Surgical center is nice, but we need another ER

Surgical center is nice, but we need another ER

While I applaud the opening of the new Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital, I think they missed the major loss we encountered when the Westlake Hospital closed, which is losing our only trauma rated hospital.

Although it certainly will be nice to have a more comfortable and hopefully competent hospital in the area, it will be catering primarily to the elective surgical needs of the residents, primarily the more affluent, rather than addressing a real need.

There are plenty of good hospitals in surrounding areas such as Cedars (Sinai), etc. that do a great job.

The real issue in the Thousand Oaks area is what happens if you are in a major auto or other accident. The answer is that you are transported to Northridge or UCLA Hospital, as Thousand Oaks has no trauma-rated hospital since Westlake closed.

I wonder how many people have needlessly died while waiting a half hour, 45 minutes or more getting transported to a trauma hospital.

Harry Newhoff

Westlake Village

Northridge Hospital officials announced recently that it’s closing because (among other reasons) too many patients without insurance were being treated.