Officials for Santa Paula Memorial Hospital and Ventura County on Tuesday delayed a meeting to discuss whether the county health care system will assume control over the "failing medical center," the Los Angeles Times reports (Kelley/Saillant, Los Angeles Times, 12/17). Santa Paula Memorial officials last week closed the intensive care unit at the hospital and announced plans to suspend all medical and emergency room services by Dec. 19 because of debts -- estimated at $7 million -- and inadequate staff levels. In addition, Santa Paula Memorial officials last week closed the emergency room at the hospital because the Department of Health Services said that the ER could not remain open without an ICU at the facility. Negotiations between Santa Paula Memorial and the county began in June in an effort to make the hospital -- a 49-bed facility that operated the only ER between Santa Clarita and Ventura -- part of the county health care system to allow the hospital to remain open (California Healthline, 12/15). Santa Paula Memorial and county officials had planned to hold a meeting this week, but they delayed the meeting, likely until January, "pending the delivery of additional financial information" to the county Board of Supervisors, the Ventura County Star reports.
City Officials Criticize Delay
The decision to delay the meeting prompted criticism from officials for the cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore because of the loss of 24-hour emergency care in the Santa Clara River Valley. "There doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency. Potentially something can be worked out with the county, but we can't sit on our hands and wait," Santa Paula City Council member Mary Ann Krause said (Wilson, Ventura County Star, 12/17). City officials on Wednesday began to contact Santa Paula Memorial and county officials to "see what can be done quickly," the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 12/17). In addition, city officials hope to convince the county health care system or private hospitals to open a facility that would accept ambulances and include an ICU (Ventura County Star, 12/17).