Watsonville Community Hospital is officially publicly owned. The Pajaro Valley Health Care District announced on Nov. 1 it had completed its purchase of the hospital property from Medical Properties Trust, an Alabama-based real estate investment trust.
The $40 million purchase was made possible by voters residing in the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, who passed Measure N in March. It allowed the district to issue $116 million in bonds to buy and improve Watsonville Community Hospital.
“What was important was to get it into public hands and get it to the point that it works towards stability,” said California State Senator John Laird, D-Santa Cruz.
Laird authored Senate Bill 418 in 2022 to save the hospital and establish the Pajaro Valley Health Care District. Watsonville Community Hospital had declared bankruptcy in December 2021 after two decades of ownership changes.
“At the time, it was a choice between the hospital closing and a path to keep it open,” Laird said. “And if the hospital closed, it would have been a major tragedy – no emergency services between Salinas and Santa Cruz.”
Since the passage of Laird’s bill, the hospital’s operations have been under public control, but the property remained privately owned until last week. The purchase of the land and buildings means the hospital will no longer have to pay $3 million annually in rent and insurance payments.
In a press release, Pajaro Valley Health Care District CEO Stephen Gray thanked the voters for passing Measure N.
“The completion of this property transaction is the final milestone in our journey back to being truly community owned,” Gray said in the press release.
