Watsonville Community Hospital holding steady under new ownership

WATSONVILLE, CALIF. (KION-TV): Watsonville Community Hospital is under new ownership.

A non-profit entity called the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Hospital Corporation purchased the bankrupt hospital thanks with help from local fundraising, according to Treasurer Marcus Pimentel.

“Over 500 individual donors who’ve pulled together $66 million of donated money to acquire this hospital,” Pimentel said. “It’s given us, through a new opportunity, through the Packard Foundation a $6.4 million loan that’s giving us some runway in this first year.”

With this new purchase, the board understands some in the community will wonder how board member will prevent another financial crisis. 

June Ponce, who is the director of marketing growth and outreach says staying above red means being involved in partnership and getting the hospital's name out there. 

“The key message here is the ability to work together in partnerships with our community, our local business, our medical providers, and to make sure we reach the needs of our community members,” Ponce said.

Still under the transition was the possibility of losing employees that feared bankruptcy -- and ultimately their paychecks. 

However,  employees of the hospital never wavered and stayed with the hospital.

COO Matko Vranjes explained typical situations of bankrupt hospitals.

“Typically in a bankruptcy you can see up to 30% of your staff leave,” Vranjes said. “We didn’t see anything near that. That’s an indication of the dedication that our staff has to the community and the organization and the willingness to support and go through some difficult times to make sure our community is taken care of in the best way possible.”

The board says they are thankful for the community's support and are committing to succeed while advocating for sustainable healthcare for the surrounding communities. 

“I just wanna take a moment to thank the community for that level of engagement and involvement and just commitment to this organization,” Vranjes said. “This leadership team that’s in place is absolutely committed to providing the best quality possible to our community and to growing this organization in a way that’ll support the community to the best of our abilities.”