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By PK Hattis pkhattis@santacruzsentinel.com WATSONVILLE » When the former owners of Watson- ville Community Hospital officially declared bank- ruptcy last winter, many in the region feared the worst. The hospital is one of only two within Santa Cruz County and public health officials warned its demise could collapse the health care system in the county and perhaps even the region more broadly, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on. But local and statewide officials sprang into action in the early weeks of 2022 to set a framework for saving the more than 100-year-old health care institution and less than six months later, the community delivered. Deemed the "largest community fundraising campaign in the history of Santa Cruz County," the Pa- jaro Valley Healthcare Dis- trict Project — which led the fundraising effort — an- nounced in late August that it had raised the $65.5 mil- lion necessary to acquire the hospital before the court-or- dered Aug. 31 deadline. The campaign was sup- ported by more than 450 individual donors who con- tributed totals ranging from $5 million to $7.5 million. "The fact that we were able to overcome all these obstacles was phenome- nal," said Watsonville Hos- pital CEO Steven Salyer, re- flecting on the moment he got the news that the effort had been successful. "Your heart just gets filled." Built into the process was the hospital's return to public ownership by the newly created Pajaro Valley Health Care District. Long- time state Sen. John Laird crafted legislation estab- lishing the district and fast- tracked it to swift passage in early February with the help of Assemblymembers Robert Rivas, Mark Stone and state Sen. Anna Cabal- lero, who were all co-au- thors of the bill. The 106-bed hospital em- ploys some 600 people and delivers more newborns than any other birthing hospital in the county, ac- cording to district project consultant Leslie Sandberg. It also supports historically underserved populations in South County, as about 80% of its patients use Medicare or Medi-Cal insurance. But Salyer, his staff and the district board also know they have their work cut out for them. A business consultant hired by the board said in August that the hospital lost $22 million in the fis- cal year prior to bankruptcy and was on track to hit $23 million again this year, due in part to costs associated with the bankruptcy itself. Salyer said he is finish- ing the process of renego- tiating vendor contracts to bring the hospital's previ- ously dismal reimburse- ment rates up to parity. Ac- cording to Salyer, the new rates will be implemented in January and he estimates it will add nearly $12 mil- lion in additional revenues to the hospital's annual bot- tom line. He also said staff mo- rale is good and "every- one's coming together" af- ter many of the hospital's nurses objected to a board decision that moved most of its staff from part-time to full-time status. Again, the move was meant to help cut costs, as the hospital had been filling scheduling gaps with traveling nurses that come at an expensive rate. Other things to keep an eye on in the coming year according to Salyer include development of a new three- year to five-year strategic business plan, a new lab for interventional cardiology and vascular surgeries and ongoing negotiations to es- tablish an inpatient behav- ioral health unit complete with 21 beds. "We're happy we have an opportunity to turn this around," Salyer said. "It's not guaranteed and we still have a tremendous amount of hard work moving for- ward, but we have a shot." WATSONVILLE Hospital returned to public ownership Leaders look to make it sustainable for the long haul PK HATTIS — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL State Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) cut the ribbon in front of Watsonville Community Hospital on Oct. 17. The hospital has had public ownership for about 80 of its more than 130 years of existence. mother to his two young children, told Carrillo at his sentencing. "There will never be justice. They could kill you a million times over and it would never be enough." During his remarks, Burdick commended the efforts of Ben Lomond res- ident Sam Patzke, saying the community owed him a "major debt" for confront- ing and subduing the armed man when he found Carrillo hiding on his property. On the afternoon of June 6, 2020, the Sheriff's Office deployed deputies to follow up on a report of a white van with what appeared to be bomb-making equip- ment inside parked on a re- mote Boulder Creek road. Tracing the van back to Carrillo — the van's reg- istered owner — deputies visited his home on Walde- berg Road in Ben Lomond. Seeing law enforcement ar- riving, Carrillo responded with gunfire and bombs. The active U.S. Air Force sergeant was a member of the Grizzly Scouts, a para- military group organized via social media and known to espouse ideology promot- ing the violent overthrow of the government and the launch of a second civil war. On May 29, 2020, Carrillo used a homemade AR-15 to fatally shoot Federal Pro- tective Services Officer Pat Underwood and wound his partner, firing 19 rounds from a white van as it drove by the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in down- town Oakland. According to federal sentencing doc- uments, Carrillo used the disruption of a Black Lives Matter event at the time as cover for the shooting. Meanwhile, community efforts to enshrine Gutz- willer's memory in the pub- lic consciousness gained a foothold. In May, county leaders approved the re- naming of Willowbrook Park in Aptos in Gutzwill- er's honor, clearing the way for the launch of a public fundraising effort aimed at redesigning the park that the Aptos resident had once frequented. In November, colleagues, friends and fam- ily gathered at the park for a ceremonial groundbreak- ing to install a memorial bench, reflection space and flag pole — all part of the park project's first phase. Fundraising, driven by the Santa Cruz County Dep- uty Sheriff's Association and managed by County Park Friends, continues for the next phase, including a renovated playground area. More information is avail- able online at countypark- friends.org/willowbrook. Carrillo FROM PAGE 1 SHMUEL THALER — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL FILE Steven Carrillo is brought into Judge Paul Burdick's courtroom in Santa Cruz on Aug. 26 to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2020 murder of Santa Cruz Sheriff's Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2022 SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM | | 3 C

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