Anticipating households in California’s Pajaro Valley are going through a tough new query: the place will they provide beginning subsequent spring? Leaders at Watsonville Neighborhood Hospital have warned that the hospital might have to shut its labor and supply unit or threat shutting down solely by April 2027, in keeping with Santa Cruz Native.
No determination has been made. However the warning lands on a hospital that already closed its neonatal intensive care unit in July and that delivers roughly 31% of all infants born in Santa Cruz County, Lookout Santa Cruz reported on Sept. 28.
For a pregnant employee in Watsonville or Pajaro, the difficulty is private. It shapes which hospital to plan for, how far a companion might drive throughout labor, and the way a household would go to a new child who wants further care.
Eight Days of Money and a Exhausting Selection
The warning surfaced at a particular board assembly of the Pajaro Valley Well being Care District, which runs the hospital, on Sept. 22. The hospital misplaced greater than $23 million in 2025 and is shedding about $85,000 a day in operations, in keeping with Santa Cruz Native. A $10.6 million state grant helped maintain it afloat, however that cash has already run out.
Interim CEO Tim Moran described the hospital’s place in an electronic mail to Santa Cruz Native. “The hospital is operating with roughly eight days of money available. Progress initiatives and partnership are being actively pursued, however the outcomes of these efforts is not going to profit the hospital for months to return,” he wrote.
Payer combine is central to the pressure. Roughly 85% of the hospital’s sufferers use Medi-Cal or Medicare, Santa Cruz Native reported. Chief Monetary Officer Julie Peterson stated federal modifications beneath H.R. 1 are anticipated to price the hospital $4 million to $6 million over the following 12 months, the Pajaronian reported.
Peterson additionally informed the board the NICU loses near $2 million a 12 months, and that affected person volumes in each the NICU and labor and supply have fallen in 2026, Lookout reported. “We’ve got been evaluating and listening to all of the feedback on affected person and group affect,” Peterson stated. “We do acknowledge that it will likely be a problem to keep up any form of constructive group relations with a choice similar to this.”
The board heard a presentation and dialogue on the particular assembly however made no selections, in keeping with the Pajaronian. Lookout reported that no formal proposal to completely shut each items has been offered to the board.
A Valley Already Residing With out Its NICU
The Stage II NICU, which cares for infants born at 32 weeks or later, closed in July due to a nursing scarcity in labor and supply. There’s nonetheless no reopening date. Infants who want extra care are actually transferred to Stage III items at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz or Natividad Medical Middle in Salinas, Lookout reported.
Moran informed Lookout {that a} pediatrician from Stanford’s Lucile Packard Kids’s Hospital assesses newborns to determine “the place the child can obtain the required care,” and that helicopter transfers for infants in misery are uncommon.
Households describe a heavier each day burden. Retired NICU nurse Sandra Morioka informed Lookout that folks of transferred infants face “three hours a day going forwards and backwards, and caring for household.” Roseann Farris, an ICU nurse with 30 years on the hospital, warned on the board assembly that NICU closure “can speed up the closure of the OB division by means of extreme medical dangers,” the Pajaronian reported.
Dropping labor and supply can be a bigger change. Watsonville averages about 60 births a month. Nora Yerena, founding father of the Watsonville household useful resource middle RaÃces y Cariño, described what an extended journey might imply. “If I needed to undergo the hour-long drive of visitors, at the moment, the possibilities of me not making it there aware, higher but alive,” she informed Santa Cruz Native.
Watsonville would be part of a protracted statewide pattern. From 2012 to February 2025, 56 California hospitals closed their maternity items, and multiple million California females of reproductive age noticed the gap to the closest birthing hospital develop from 2019 to 2024, in keeping with the California Well being Care Basis. Medi-Cal lined 41% of California births in 2023, the inspiration discovered. MedicalDaily not too long ago reported that almost all latest obstetric closures nationally have hit city, not rural, hospitals.
Public Hearings, State Discover and Steps for Anticipating Dad and mom
Any closure wouldn’t occur in a single day. California’s SB 1300, signed in 2024 after a CalMatters investigation, requires hospitals to offer 120 days’ discover earlier than closing a maternity unit and to carry a public listening to. Santa Cruz Native reported that the listening to should happen inside the first 60 days of that discover interval.
The following public alternative is the district board assembly on Oct. 28, from 5 to six p.m. within the hospital’s Neighborhood Room at 85 Nielson St. in Watsonville, with Zoom entry out there. Residents can remark and ask about partnerships that would maintain births within the valley. Santa Cruz Native reported that potential companions have included Sutter Well being, Kaiser Permanente, UC San Francisco, Salud Para La Gente and CommonSpirit Well being, although talks with one companion fell aside in Might and no updates have been shared publicly since.
Pregnant folks due in early to mid-2027 have time to plan however ought to begin the dialog now. Households can ask their obstetrician or midwife which hospitals they ship at, whether or not care might switch to Dominican or Natividad, and whether or not their Medi-Cal plan or personal insurance coverage covers these services. It additionally helps to ask a couple of backup plan if labor is quick, and the way a NICU switch would work.
Households may map the rush-hour drive to every hospital and maintain prenatal data useful. Heavy bleeding, extreme headache, imaginative and prescient modifications, fluid leaking, or lowered fetal motion name for pressing care on the nearest emergency room, no matter the place supply was deliberate.
Watsonville’s maternity ward stays open immediately, and its future relies on board selections, state discover guidelines, and partnership talks. Essentially the most helpful step for anticipating households is a direct discuss with their prenatal clinician about the place they’ll ship and what the backup plan is.
Key Questions Answered
Is Watsonville Neighborhood Hospital closing its maternity ward?
Not but. Hospital leaders stated closing labor and supply is one choice to keep away from a full hospital shutdown, however no formal proposal has gone to the board, and no vote has been taken.
When might the hospital shut?
Leaders warned the hospital might shut by April 2027 if its funds don’t enhance. The interim CEO stated it has about eight days of money available.
Is the NICU open?
No. The Stage II NICU closed in July due to staffing shortages and has no reopening date. Infants needing intensive care are transferred to Dominican Hospital or Natividad Medical Middle.
The place would Pajaro Valley households give beginning if labor and supply closes?
The closest options named in native reporting are Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz and Natividad Medical Middle in Salinas. Households ought to verify with their clinician and insurer which hospital suits their care and protection.
How a lot discover is required earlier than a closure?
Below California’s SB 1300, hospitals should give 120 days’ discover earlier than closing a maternity unit and maintain a public listening to inside the first 60 days.
How can residents weigh in?
The Pajaro Valley Well being Care District board meets Oct. 28 from 5 to six p.m. on the hospital, with Zoom entry. Public remark is a part of the method.
What ought to pregnant folks do now?
Discuss with an obstetrician or midwife about supply plans, backup hospitals and insurance coverage protection. Search emergency care instantly for warning indicators similar to heavy bleeding, extreme headache or lowered fetal motion.
Revealed by Medicaldaily.com
