Final papers expected to be signed this week as COVID-19 pandemic continues
A year which saw natural disasters, power outages, evacuations and nine months of heightened alerts during the coronavirus pandemic at Healdsburg District Hospital (HDH) is now ending with a transfer to new ownership and promises of longer-term financial stability, a change that looked in doubt at the beginning of the year.
North county voters overwhelmingly approved the sale of the public hospital in the November election to NorCal Health Connect, an affiliate of Providence St. Joseph Health. This week, final terms of the transfer are expected to be approved by the board of the North Sonoma County Healthcare District at its regular monthly meeting, Thursday, Dec. 17, according to hospital CEO James Schuessler.
Meanwhile, hospital staff remain poised to continue the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. There were two patients with positive COVID-19 cases this week where the hospital has had a daily average of 1-3 active cases since the pandemic arrived here in February. The total patient census at the beginning of this week was 28, with 17 being sub-acute, longer-term patients.
The six hospitals in the county have 77 registered ICU beds but each hospital can “flex” to a higher number by re-staffing and isolating other beds, usually used for pre- and post-surgery patients. At the beginning of the pandemic last spring, all the local hospitals, including HDH, suspended all elective surgeries, as part of a “surge” strategy during the first peak of local COVID-19 cases.
The Healdsburg hospital has four ICU beds, but can double that amount if needed, said Schuessler. “Our challenge would be staffing. I’m afraid if we saw a surge like that, we ‘d run out of ‘fresh’ staff.” The hospital is now operating at full service in all departments and has “not run into any serious nursing staffing issues,” Schuessler said.
However, the need for enough respiratory therapists has been tested, he said, while adding the hospital has been fortunate to have adequate supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and ventilator machines.
“Our people have done a great job and we have benefited from excellent turnaround times from the county on our (COVID-19) testing,” he said. The hospital is not allowing any visitors and all emergency room patients must be rapid tested for the coronavirus. Beginning this week, all hospital staff will be tested weekly, a total of 140 people. In the past HDH only tested some employees.
Schuessler continues to join weekly virtual meetings with Dr. Mase and his counterparts at other regional hospitals. “Our COVID-19 response plans have been amended 30 to 40 times and more changes keep coming as we monitor the cases,” he said. HDH has been approved by the state and federal agencies to administer the COVID-19 vaccines once they are shipped later this month. Vaccination protocols and schedules are still being finalized at HDH in coordination with the county public health office and state mandates.
As if being on the front line of defense against a historical pandemic was not enough challenge, Schuessler and the health district board of directors have been negotiating the terms of the sale of the hospital at the same time. At the beginning of the year, the small semi-rural hospital was struggling with a long-term financial crunch, made much worse from March to July while most surgeries were canceled, except for emergencies.
“We’re doing much better over the past three months and we’ve seen some positive cash flows and improvement. We’re actually in a strong cash position right now but that doesn’t mean our sale to a larger, deeper pocketed entity isn’t necessary and the best thing to happen to us,” said Schuessler, who will be leaving his post at the end of the year as a new NorCal Health Connect management team takes over.
The taxpayer-owned hospital is being sold for $5 million in cash, plus a commitment to invest $10 million in immediate facility and technology improvements. All hospital staff is being retained at current salary levels and NorCal Health Connect is required to keep the hospital open for 30 years and complete $20-50 million in seismic retrofitting or build a new facility.
The healthcare districts parcel tax and debt will remain the obligation of the elected board of directors and district taxpayers in Windsor, Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg and unincorporated north county. “Everybody can be really, really proud of the caliber of people and the standard of technology at this little hospital,” the exiting CEO Schuessler said. “There are standards of care here that much larger hospitals can’t offer.
