Watsonville nurses rally against ICU closure

Several dozen Watsonville Community Hospital nurses and staff warned Wednesday that closing the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit—an idea they said officials have floated amid deep financial strain—would put patients at risk and weaken the countywide emergency care system.

Hospital CEO Steven Gray said in a written statement that closure of the ICU is not on the table and stressed the hospital’s commitment to keeping the unit open.

The press conference was held ahead of a special meeting of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District board, called as the publicly owned hospital faces budget shortfalls and ongoing staffing challenges.

A large part of the financial strain stems from H.R. 1—also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which includes cuts that could result in a roughly $5 million loss for the hospital.

The setback follows the hospital’s 2021 takeover by the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, a locally controlled agency that brought Watsonville Community Hospital back from the brink of bankruptcy. That turnaround occurred before recent federal funding cuts under the Trump administration.

In August, hospital officials announced they were seeking an operating partner to help run the facility.

Hospital officials said the idea of temporarily closing the ICU arose during recent discussions about hard-to-fill overnight shifts, which are typically staffed by traveling nurses. With those positions unfilled, a temporary closure was raised as a possibility.

But nurses rallied to fill the shifts, temporarily averting that outcome.

“We are navigating two important issues facing our ICU: a fiscal hardship caused by federal funding cuts, and recruiting to fill open nursing positions,” Gray said.

He added that “positive movement has already occurred” after scheduling compromises and said the hospital is optimistic that “additional progress will be made in the coming weeks.”

Still, the possibility of an ICU closure sent chills through the hospital’s nursing community.

“The message today is that we are the nurses asking for safe patient care, keeping our service lines open and specifically keeping our ICU open, because that’s the immediate threat,” said ICU nurse Roseann Farris, who told reporters the unit was nearly closed over the weekend after the hospital could not afford travel nurse contracts for the night shift.

“We cannot have the ICU closed,” Farris said. “When we asked what the safety plan was behind it, they didn’t really have a succinct, safe plan for our patients.”

Farris, who has worked as an ICU nurse for three decades, said the unit is central to stabilizing critically ill patients throughout the hospital — from mothers in labor to surgical patients and those arriving through the emergency department.

“In the ICU, we stabilize any patient that’s unstable, meaning if we didn’t stabilize them, they would die,” she said. “We can’t lose that.”

Farris said nurses scrambled to prevent a shutdown by taking extra shifts but described the solution as temporary.

“It’s diverted short term,” she said. “But the long term? Until they take it off the table, it’s a threat — it’s a threat to our community. It’s a threat to patient safety.”

Gray, in his statement, reiterated that Watsonville Community Hospital is “committed to serving our community with a strong ICU” and said the hospital is continuing efforts to recruit staff and stabilize its finances.

He also said the hospital is working to “identify an operating partner” as it tries to resolve its fiscal crisis.

The ICU debate has drawn concern from local officials, including Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, who said a loss of ICU capacity in Watsonville would ripple beyond the Pajaro Valley.

“We need critical services like ICU, not just here for our community,” Hernandez said. “Imagine the demand that’s going to happen in North County if ICU services are cut here. It’s going to create havoc throughout the countywide health system.”

Labor leaders also criticized hospital leadership and urged the district board to assert stronger oversight.

“The board needs to understand this is a vital service,” said Cesar Lara, director of workforce and economic development with the California Federation of Labor Unions. “You and the community should not be the victims.”

Despite the uncertainty, Farris said nurses wanted the public to know that care at the hospital remains safe.

“We want to make sure that the community knows that they’re safe,” she said. “Please come here if you need us, and we’re going to keep them safe and we’re going to take good care of you.”