The newly-formed Pajaro Valley Health Care District will need to pull together some $20 million dollars by July in order to buy the bankrupt Watsonville Community Hospital, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports.
Those funds are a fraction of $66 million the group estimates will be necessary to operate the hospital during its first year under Pajaro Valley Health Care District ownership.
Watsonville-based Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley has put up $6 million, while the County of Santa Cruz pledged $5.5 million. The effort is also set to receive $7 million from Kaiser Permanente. Private donors have contributed nearly $16.5 million through a fundraising campaign.
The community hospital is one of two in Santa Cruz County. In the last 21 years, 20 different for-profit healthcare companies have taken ownership of the facility and subsequently sold the hospital. Read more.
