[caption id="attachment_35455" align="alignnone" width="448"] Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol is set to close Monday after running out of cash and amassing nearly $7 million in debt.[/caption]
With the closure of long-struggling Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol all but assured, hospital executives and health care experts are pointing to the failed facility as perhaps the most vivid example of the myriad challenges facing the hospital industry as a whole.
Despite countless last-ditch efforts to save 37-bed Palm Drive, the district board that oversees Sonoma County's smallest hospital last week voted to go ahead with a planned closure of all operations, including emergency care, on Monday, shortly after declaring Chapter 9 bankrupting for the second time in seven years.
Although the issues leading to Palm Drive's closure were multifaceted, in some cases specific to geographical challenges, the small but beloved hospital is far from alone in the ongoing evolution of the Affordable Care Act world of health care reform, experts said.
"Unfortunately, Palm Drive is not an isolated case," said Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, echoing a sentiment repeated throughout Palm Drive's process to shutter operations and cited by scores of hospital administrators across the North Bay. "There are hospitals across the state that are really struggling to remain open and operating."
At least eight hospitals -- including Palm Drive -- across the country have either filed for bankruptcy or closed just in 2014, according to Carr Consultants, a national health care adviser. In the greater Bay Area, oft-financially strapped district hospital Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo is similarly teetering on the edge of its second bankruptcy since 2008. The same adviser for Palm Drive, Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group, is counseling Doctors in San Pablo, a safety-net hospital for western Contra Costa County.
No hospital is immune to the issues, which include reduced Medicare and Medi-Cal rates, a move away from costly inpatient care to the outpatient setting and a multitude of regulations unique to the state that make California particularly challenging, Ms. Emerson-Shea said.
To that end, hospitals across California are facing $23 billion in payment cuts between now and 2023, she said. Of that, $17 billion is related to the Affordable Care Act, which places a high value on prevention versus hospitalization. That's likely a positive development for patients, but it spells a tough road ahead for hospitals both large and small. Districts at a disadvantage
Yet smaller, publicly run hospitals like Palm Drive can be particularly vulnerable, often lacking the organizational structure and size to cope with the fast-moving landscape, health experts said.
Excluding Palm Drive, which will allow its hospital license with the state to be suspended come April 28, the North Bay is home to four other district-owned hospitals, all of which have embarked on different strategies in hoping to not fall victim to the economic realities.
Those four hospitals -- Marin General, Petaluma Valley, Sonoma Valley and Healdsburg District -- have to contend with multiple health care giants, including Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, St. Joseph Health and Adventist Health. At one point, Palm Drive considered an affiliation with Roseville-based Adventist Health, which owns and operates St. Helena Hospital, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake and Ukiah Valley Medical Center, but opted instead to affiliate with Marin General.
Parallels often are drawn between Palm Drive and both Healdsburg District and Sonoma Valley because of their sizes. Healdsburg, in particular, will face a strong challenge later this year when a new $284 million Sutter Medical Center opens on the northern end of Santa Rosa, just 15 miles from 43-bed Healdsburg, which is owned by the North Sonoma County Healthcare District.
But executives at Sonoma Valley and Healdsburg said they are well-positioned, though they readily acknowledge the increased economic pressures in the industry.
"We budgeted last year as a $55 million organization," said Kelly Mather, CEO of the 83-bed Sonoma Valley Hospital, overseen by the Sonoma Valley Health Care District. "This year we're budgeting $52 million, so we have to cut $3 million out of our budget.
"We're staying ahead of the curve as much as we can. It is a tough time for all hospitals -- yes -- but we watch our revenues."
Likewise at Healdsburg, CEO Nancy Schmid said the small rural hospital is stepping up efforts to address the foreseeable challenges, and that an array of services and strategies should ensure continued operations.