Maternity Ward Prepares for the Sounds of Silence

Elizabeth Diaz was born at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital 28 years ago. On Thursday, she gave birth to the last baby to be born in the hospital’s maternity ward, at least for the foreseeable future.

The maternity ward closes today, and the entire 42-year-old hospital is set to close next Friday, leaving the low-slung, 1960s-era building an empty shell at the top of 10th Street. Deeply in debt, the hospital’s board of trustees made the decision this week to suspend the institution’s license for up to three years.

Because Diaz’s baby, Omar, had trouble breathing, he was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.

Friday morning, Diaz rested in a cozy maternity room at Santa Paula Memorial before checking out, keenly aware no expectant mothers would replace her. Omar Gonzalez, Diaz’s boyfriend and father of Omar, sat at her bedside.

“I’m very happy about the baby but kind of sad because they’re closing the hospital,” Diaz said as she reclined in flannel pajamas and robe.

“Now if you have an emergency, you have to go all the way to Ventura,” said Gonzalez, 21, who lives in Fillmore with Diaz. “That’s bad.”

Diaz said the hospital had always been there for her and her family. Her mother was treated at the 49-bed medical center about 20 years ago for severe burns suffered in a cooking accident. “They took good care of her,” Diaz said.

On Friday, when Diaz’s mother, Dolores, visited her daughter and newborn grandson, she became so excited she began experiencing chest pains, Diaz said. A nurse put her in a wheelchair and took her to physicians, who examined her and declared her OK.

In the maternity ward, every room has an expansive view of the green valley through picture windows that open to let in the breeze.

“From here, you can see the whole town,” Gonzalez said, shaking his head in wonder.

After Elizabeth Diaz was wheeled out to her car for the ride home Friday, 10 patients remained at the hospital, which will stop admitting patients Monday. The staff members will continue to treat walk-in patients next week, said nursing director Karin Lyders, who began her 33-year tenure in the maternity ward. Patients will be stabilized and transferred to other hospitals if necessary. The X-ray, laboratory and physical therapy departments also will remain open through the week.

The closing marks the end of an era that began in 1961, when artists, ranchers, doctors and oil workers reached into their pockets to make their dream for a general hospital in the Santa Clara River Valley a reality.

The site, with breathtaking views of the Topatopa Mountains and the sun-washed valley below, was donated by rancher Milton Teague, and the enterprise was aided by a $350,000 cash donation from the Albert Thille family.

But the advent of managed care spelled the beginning of the end for the small hospital, which could not compete with the county’s larger medical centers.

“This is a little jewel that a lot of people didn’t realize was here,” said nursing supervisor Nancy Rudolph, adding that the friendly, close-knit staff made the hospital special.

“There’s a core of people who have been here so long, and even if they reopen the hospital, they aren’t going to be back. The real loser in all this is not really the staff, it’s the people of the valley.”

Still hoping something can be done to save the hospital, local pastors and ministers will hold a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. Monday in the hospital’s parking lot.

“As a community, many of us are standing by and watching the ‘baby’ die, and the pastors are calling the communities to join together and pray for our situation,” said Pastor David McKeever of Valley Community Church. “This is our personal 9/11.”