The board of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, which runs Watsonville Community Hospital, is scheduled Wednesday, Oct. 28, to consider closing the hospital's labor and delivery services and its neonatal intensive care unit.
The money problem
Interim CEO Tim Moran has said the hospital is losing roughly $85,000 to $86,000 a day, according to Lookout Santa Cruz and the Pajaronian. Staff estimate labor and delivery and the NICU together lose about $10 million a year, or about $27,000 a day.
A hospital report says that without closing a service or finding new funding, the hospital "will exhaust funds available for payroll within six to twelve months." Nearly 80% of its patients are covered by Medi-Cal or Medicare, Lookout reported. The Pajaronian reported that the hospital owes $11.5 million to suppliers and service providers and lost nearly $23 million in 2025.
What happens if the board votes yes
A permanent closure would require 120 days' notice to the state and a public hearing within 60 days of that notice. Moran said the services would stay open during that period. District chair Tony Nuñez told the Pajaronian the vote could come Oct. 28 or Nov. 18.
Nurses and doctors at recent town halls urged the board to find alternatives, warning that closures would limit access to care for mothers and newborns across the Pajaro Valley.