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PREVIOUSLY: Partly Built New Acute Rehab Building at Redwood Memorial Scrapped, and Providence Employees Say Inpatient Rehab May Be Eliminated Altogether

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Care providers at St. Joseph Hospital have suspected this move for weeks, but on Tuesday Providence made it official: The award-winning acute inpatient rehabilitation unit in Eureka will soon be shut down, and patients who need help recovering from strokes, surgeries, physically debilitating accidents and the like will instead be sent to Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, a skilled nursing home whose owner has a long track record of problems and a reputation for short staffing and insufficient care.

As we reported last month, Providence has also canceled previously announced plans to build a new 12,000-square-foot Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation addition at Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, citing “several external factors.”

A press release issued by Providence yesterday doesn’t offer much clarity on the situation. For example, it doesn’t explain how rehab services will be impacted or how many jobs will be eliminated, if any. James Ladika, a registered nurse and union rep for the California Nurses Association, told the Times-Standard that the impacts will be widespread.

“There are very complex surgeries that we do at our facility at St Joe’s that require the best rehab care that can be provided,” he was quoted as saying. “And not having that rehab locally is going to result in people needing to either be sent out of the area or to have their recovery without that level of high-quality care.”

We sent some follow-up questions to Providence spokesperson Christian Hill and will update readers once we have more information. 

Here’s the press release from Providence:

Providence St. Joseph Hospital is announcing the closure of the acute rehabilitation unit (ARU) on the campus of General Hospital in Eureka. Providence will be collaborating with Rockport’s Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Eureka to deliver rehabilitation services in Humboldt County starting on November 18.

Currently, acute rehabilitation services are located at the General Hospital campus in Eureka but due to the state’s mandated seismic (earthquake) structural standards, the General Hospital campus does not meet those standards and will no longer be able to provide inpatient services after 2024. It was our plan to move the ARU to a new building at Redwood Memorial Hospital. Construction began in 2018 but due to various external factors, the project is no longer feasible.

Providence maintains close relationships with many organizations in California that collaborate in providing rehabilitation care for patients. Rockport’s Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center has been a long-standing provider of skilled nursing care for Providence patients in Humboldt County and cares for hundreds of Providence patients every year.

“As a health care provider founded over a century ago, we’re committed to serving the community in a responsible and sustainable manner, allowing us to continue our Mission for the next 100 years,” said Michael Keleman, chief executive, Providence Humboldt County.   “With that in mind, and with input from local stakeholders and community members – we’ve identified an innovative solution that will best serve patients. We’re excited to announce this critical collaboration with Rockport’s Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center to provide rehabilitation services that align with the needs of our community.”

Providence is committed to a smooth transition for all our impacted caregivers. To that end, we will work with their unions as required by current contracts on impacts to their roles including internal or external opportunities that may exist.