To the Editor:

I was astonished to learn this week that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors has tentatively voted to close both the ICU Department and Birthing Center at Santa Paula Hospital. The cited reasons are that closing these departments may save $5 million in the 2024-2025 Ventura County Budget.

I have read that the county budget is slated to be 2.86 BILLION dollars and that there is a Ventura County budget reserve of 170 MILLION. And while I understand the need for county departments to pay for themselves as much as possible, I also believe there are some public safety services that must be maintained for health equity, and the common good of all in our county. Are there no other places in this mammoth 2024-2025 budget that can be scaled down? I join with others in asking Supervisors La Vere, Gorell, Lopez, and Parvin to reconsider and vote to ensure that ICU and Birthing hospital access at Santa Paula Hospital remains an essential county priority. An overflow of patients to other hospitals, caused by these budget cuts, may indeed affect life in many county boundaries.

The cities of Santa Paula, Fillmore and the Neighborhood of Piru now include over 50,000 people and several convalescent homes. What are the odds that some of these folks may need the immediate care of an ICU? In an emergency, ambulance services generally take patients to the nearest hospital. If patients need to be transferred, many insurances may not pay the $1000 transfer cost. Sometimes transfers can take hours. There may be times when the ICU’s at VCMC, Community, and St. John’s are all full. What then?

While those in critical condition and expectant mothers in Piru may try to avoid the 45 minute drive to Ventura County Medical Center, and make their way to Henry Mayo Hospital, that facility, located in Los Angeles County, will often charge those from Ventura County a substantial “out of county” surplus fee. Closing our closest ICU when we are living in an active earthquake zone, near accident prone Highway 126, and in a somewhat violent society, means that some taxpayers/voters/children may be harmed permanently, and some may die, waiting for medical care that once was available.
We need at least 2 county supervisors and our Supervisor Kelly Long’s votes to overturn the tentative budget vote and keep these hospital departments open. The budget will be finalized by vote at the June 17 8:30am meeting of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. All concerned may either appear to speak at this meeting, or call each supervisor at their numbers listed below. The emails of the supervisors are listed as well, but many believe our concerned voices may speak louder than more written words right now. At this time, there is also a petition that has a reported 1000 signatures.
Thank you in advance for helping to remind our supervisors of their need to view the county in its entirety and avoid the closing of The Birthing Center and the ICU at Santa Paula Hospital. A vote to close these rural hospital departments on which so many depend would not only be a relatively small and unacceptable cut, but an unconscionable way to trim an almost $3 BILLION 2024 Ventura County Budget.

Supervisor Matt La Vere - 805 654 2703 - Matt.LaVere@ventura.org
Supervisor Jeff Gorell - 805 214-2510 - supervisorgorelle@ventura.org
Supervisor Kelly Long - 805 654-2276 - Kelly.Long@ventura.org
Supervisor Vianey Lopez - 805 654-2613 - Vianey.Lopez@ventura.org
Supervisor Janice S. Parvin - 805 955-2300 - Supervisor.Parvin@ventura.org

Respectfully,

Mrs. Susan Jolley
Fillmore, Ca.