A consulting firm and the Ventura County’s top administrator will recommend the County Board of Supervisors replace Santa Paula Hospital with a system they said will meet many community needs but will be less than a hospital.
At a sometimes emotional community meeting in Fillmore on Aug. 3, residents of the Santa Clara River Valley were told again the small, deep-in-the-red hilltop hospital with low patient census will close in 2030.
The 63-year-old facility, now run by the county, will no longer meet state seismic requirements. County leaders have said they won’t retrofit the facility because It would cost more than $36 million, also incurring more than $10 million a year in other expenses.
It’s an equation that has for many months sparked fear in a growing, lower-income, largely Latino valley that includes Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru. People worry about having to go to the Ventura County Medical Center or elsewhere for care needed immediately.
“It’s just going to negatively affect people in the valley and their medical outcomes,” said Fillmore Mayor Albert Mendez.
Jonathan Freedman, consultant with Health Management Associates, presented a report of options that included replacing the facility with a micro-hospital that would include four observation beds, an emergency room open around-the-clock, an unstaffed intensive care unit and an unstaffed operating room.
It would cost an investment of as much as $121 million and would likely lose $71 million over five years.
“It would be very hard to run this hospital financially successfully,” Freedman said.
He recommended a different option — developing a medical office building that would serve as a hub for county clinics and healthcare in the valley. The plan would feature an expanded access care center that would provide urgent care, on-site imaging and diagnostic services, a laboratory and a pharmacy. It would be open for what he called extended daytime and evening hours.
The plan would cost as much as $40 million to develop but would likely not lose money and could generate more than $5 million over five years, Freedman said.
It would not have in-patient beds and would not be classified as a licensed emergency room, meaning ambulances could not take patients there. But it would be able to provide care for many of the conditions that now compel people to go to the Santa Paula Hospital emergency room, Freedman said.
“It best aligns with the observed needs and utilization patterns of Santa Clara River Valley residents,” he said.
High-risk and life-threatening conditions would be sent to the Ventura County Medical Center and other hospitals.
The Board of Supervisors will be asked to choose an option on Aug. 18.
County Executive Officer Sevet Johnson said she will support Freedman’s recommendation. She cited financial pressures that include a projected $400 million loss to the county health system over the next several years from cuts in the H.R. 1 budget reconciliation measure, President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
She said taking on the cost of building a replacement hospital in Santa Paula could jeopardize a countywide safety net system meant to protect the most vulnerable.
“We have to be fiscally responsible,” she said. “This is not easy, and it’s not something we want to do but this is where we are.”
Freedman also presented a third option that would involve operating an urgent care system in the valley that would provide care to less critical conditions and would be open in the afternoon and evenings.
But it would not replace hospital-level services and also would likely lose nearly $5 million over the first five years, Freedman said.
Previous discussions about creating a health care hub have included the possibility of using land owned by Limoneira off Highway 126. Freedman said his report was not pinned to a specific location. He said the county would move on to site selection after the Board of Supervisors picks a pathway.
By a show of hands, most of the community members said they wanted the replacement hospital and its 24-hour emergency room. They worried other options mean people who need immediate health care will have to be transported to Ventura or elsewhere.
“I think they’re rushing a decision that’s so critical for the entire valley and putting lives at risk,” said Santa Paula City Councilmember Pedro Chavez.
Freedman pointed out that heart attacks, strokes and many other life-threatening illnesses are already not being treated at Santa Paula Hospital, rather are diverted elsewhere. He also said comprehensive care is offered at the county-run Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura.
Though residents favored a replacement hospital, some said they could read the writing on the wall. They predicted the financial aspects mean the board almost certainly will pick another option.
“It’s dead,” Mendez said of the micro-hospital, adding that the medical office building and expanded access care center might be passable if urgent care services were open around-the-clock.
Some people worried about insurance issues and the cost of ambulances. But the common fear for most was that people would need care and wouldn’t get it. Others said many in the valley still don’t know the hospital will close in 2030.
Santa Paula resident Amalia Ochoa urged county leaders in Spanish to focus more on what she said are the real issues — finding ways to provide more care and help people and families facing health crises.
“How many lives are we going to lose?” she asked.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Decision on Santa Paula Hospital nears with options, costs laid out
Reporting by Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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By Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
