Palomar Health to close California hospital: 3 things to know

Kelly Gooch -

Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health will close its downtown Escondido campus, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

According to the report, hospital directors voted 5-2 Wednesday night to close the downtown facility and move its existing patient services to sister facilities in 90 days.

Here are three things to know about the closure.

1. The downtown hospital campus houses a labor and delivery department, inpatient rehabilitation, a reserve emergency room, a behavioral health department and some outpatient surgery operations. Its services will now be moved to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway, Calif.

2. Clinical workers, such as nurses and technicians, will follow their patients to the sister facilities, according to the report. However, some support workers will lose their jobs. Based on previous layoff estimates from Palomar Health, between 60 and 75 full-time employees and an additional 180 to 220 per diem part-time workers will lose their jobs overall.

3. Palomar Health executives recommended closing the downtown campus because the system is losing $20 million annually by operating the hospital, and the hospital also needs more than $160 million in maintenance, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

 

More articles on hospital closures:

Cleveland Clinic hit with $400M lawsuit over Lakewood Hospital closure 
Florida hospital has new management after nearly closing: 3 things to know 
Houston long-term hospital to close: 4 things to know

 

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