Fate of Santa Paula Hospital Now Up to County Leaders

Ventura County supervisors will meet in closed session today to discuss whether to go forward with a rescue plan for Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, which could file for bankruptcy soon if no deal is reached.

The board’s decision may seal the fate of the semi-rural, 49-bed hospital that provides the only emergency room between Santa Clarita and Ventura. The hospital is Santa Paula’s third-largest employer, with about 150 on its payroll, and serves the 50,000 residents of the Santa Clara River Valley.

The five supervisors are scheduled to discuss the matter behind closed doors, after six months of sometimes contentious negotiations between the hospital’s board of trustees and county health officials. The county was considering leasing the hospital, which would have used the proceeds to pay down its debt.

But negotiations recently collapsed, primarily over who would control 18 valuable acres surrounding the seven -acre medical center, a piece of real estate both parties view as key to the center’s financial future.

The hospital board wants to build a skilled nursing center on the land that would generate revenue for the hospital. But Supervisor Kathy Long, whose district includes the Santa Clara River Valley and who serves on the Ventura County’s negotiating team, said such a use might compete with the hospital’s operations and thus harm both facilities.

In addition, Long called the land’s fate a “liability issue,” because if the hospital needs a loan in the future, the land is worth more as collateral if it remains undeveloped.

But hospital trustee and negotiator Carol Burhoe said she does not understand why the county is insistent on controlling the land.

“That’s the very question we can’t get answered,” Burhoe said Monday. “What people don’t understand is, the county is not putting any money into the hospital. It’s a landlord-tenant situation. We’ll have to wait and see, and as soon as we know what their decision is, we’ll know what our options are.”