A South Bay hospital plans to close its in-patient psychiatric facility next month, leaving patients concerned and state leaders searching for options.
Good Samaritan Hospital is closing the inpatient psychiatric facility at its Mission Oaks campus in Los Gatos.
The closure is slated for August 20, which would mean the loss of 18 in-patient psychiatric beds and would leave all of Santa Clara County with fewer than 200 similar beds.
HCA Healthcare operates Mission Oaks at Good Samaritan Hospital. The hospital says its closing the facility because of a staffing shortage.
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They released the following statement:
“Good Samaritan has done everything in its power to staff the behavioral health unit, including a telehealth option. Unfortunately, in the post-pandemic, healthcare ecosystem, we can’t find qualified staffing for this unit.”
Local and state leaders are worried about what the closure means for patients.
“These are expensive operations, in terms of costs and investment. But the private sector needs to pull its weight and not be in it just for the profits. I think that’s the problem,” said California State Sen. Dave Cortese. “I believe HCA is big enough and has a corporate budget that’s large enough for them to keep those beds open until some kind of orderly transition.”
Cortese says he’s working with the Governor Gavin Newsom’s office to see if more can be done to keep the 18 beds open.
