Trust is not built on words alone—it is forged through action, teamwork, and empathy. This holds true in times of prosperity, but is even more critical during hardship and crisis. Few experiences unite people like the shared journey from loss to pain, to recovery, and finally, to stability.
This is the journey Watsonville Community Hospital has been on for the past several years. After losing local control to corporate owners in the 1990s, our community felt the pain of reduced services and a hollowed-out institution. But together, we rallied—residents, partners, representatives, businesses, and donors—to reclaim the hospital under local ownership. Now, we are thoughtfully rebuilding its foundation to ensure it remains stable and reliable for generations to come.
I joined this effort in March 2022, when the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors appointed me to the inaugural Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD) Board of Directors. Since then, much has happened—driven by your trust in us.
We, the Pajaro Valley community—Watsonville, Freedom, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Rio del Mar, Pajaro, Las Lomas, and parts of Aptos and Aromas—are now the sole owners of Watsonville Community Hospital, its operations, buildings, and property. This was made possible because you voted ‘Yes’ on Measure N last year.
We, the PVHCD, established the Watsonville Community Hospital Foundation, successfully raising over $2.8 million through grants, foundation events, and donor contributions last year. Of the funds raised, 90% are dedicated to acquiring essential medical equipment, fostering business growth, and providing state-of-the-art technology to enhance patient care. This support fuels our vision of a community-driven hospital, a vision you believed in when we began this journey in 2022.
We, the dedicated frontline staff, have enhanced services and safety measures, leading to improved scores from healthcare watchdogs (moving from a D to B in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the nation’s gold standard in evaluating hospital performance on measures of safety, quality and efficiency) and better experiences for patients and visitors.
We, the hospital’s leadership team, have pulled the organization from losing $30 million in 2022 to less than $1 million in 2024—all without layoffs. Instead, we have added staff, positions, and partnerships critical to strengthening the hospital, district, and community.
While this progress is worth celebrating, we acknowledge that we are not yet at a point where we can restore all lost services or make the necessary investments in our staff and equipment. We also recognize that access to primary care remains a challenge. Although our clinic, Coastal Healthcare, welcomed its first primary care provider earlier this year, there is still much work to do to improve our community’s access to primary care and overall wellness.
Furthermore, after two decades of instability under previous ownership, one of our greatest challenges remains rebuilding trust in our hospital. As I said before, words and strategies can only take us so far—true trust is built through experience. Our goal is that every patient, donor, and community member who steps into Watsonville Community Hospital, visits Coastal Healthcare, contributes to the Foundation, or reaches out to the Board of Directors feels valued, heard, and respected.
One of the first tasks our Board undertook was defining our mission, vision, and values—something every organization does, but not all take seriously. We took it very seriously. Our mission is clear: to be “the trusted, equitable healthcare partner and provider our diverse families, friends, and neighbors deserve.” Our core values reflect this commitment:
- We put people first.
- We strive for excellence.
- We earn trust.
- We are family.
Trust is at the heart of our mission. In today’s climate, where truth itself is often debated, building and maintaining trust is more challenging than ever. That’s why I’m committing to this recurring column—not just to share our progress and challenges, but to explain exactly how the PVHCD works, answer community questions, and highlight ways you can help make our hospital successful. I trust that our team will continue building your trust with their actions, teamwork, and empathy.
Tony Nuñez is the Chair of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board of Directors. He can be reached at To********@pv***.org.
