Healdsburg Hospital Will Lay Off 30, Blames Obamacare

Thirty of the 360 employees at the Healdsburg District Hospital will soon be out of work.

According to the North Bay Business Journal and Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the hospital on Thursday announced plans to lay the workers off, blaming the action on restructuring to match the staffing of other area hospitals and an anticipated drop in revenue due to federal health care reform.

“With the Affordable Care Act, many people will be insured at the affordable care rate, and reimbursements will be much lower,” Chief Nursing Officer Susan Spoelma told the Press Democrat.

CEO Nancy Schmid said in a statement to the two papers that the cuts were a response to patient needs and "a rapidly changing federal health care reform."

She said she hopes the hospital won't have to lay off anyone else, but will revisit the issue in a few months. She insisted the quality of care at the hospital would not decline.

The employees set to be laid off are both direct-care and support staff, the papers reported.

Read more from the North Bay Business Journal here and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here.

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