Glenn Medical Center in Willows is set to close Oct. 21 after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revoked its “Critical Access Hospital” designation, a status that provided crucial Medicare funding. Without that support, the county’s only hospital and emergency room cannot continue operating.
The closure means residents will have to travel to Chico or Colusa for lifesaving treatment — more than 30 miles away. For many families, that distance raises urgent concerns.
At a youth football practice in Willows, parent Casey Meza said she’s already seen how important the emergency room can be.
“That would be … really scary if something serious were to happen during sports,” Meza said. “We had an athlete the other day, their knee popped out and they had to go to the hospital. So, luckily the hospital emergency room here was open at that time.”
That same access was critical for Orland resident Betty Espino, who brought her daughter to Glenn Medical after she became severely dehydrated.
“Pues este hospital es el más cerca, sí me gusta, porque atienden muy bien y son muy amables y no me gustaría que lo cierren porque pues lo necesitamos. (Well, this hospital is the closest one, and I like it because they provide very good care and are very kind. I wouldn't like it if they closed it because we need it.)”
Nearly 3,000 calls for emergency ambulances were made in Glenn County last year.
“We don't have time to wait and see how it's going to work. We have to be proactive and we have to come up with a plan and we don't have that much time.”- Jim Yoder, Glenn Medical Center supervisor
That workload, combined with the county’s rural geography has leaders sounding alarms. Supervisor Jim Yoder said the closure will have dire consequences.
“Someone will die from it,” Yoder said.
Appeals to the CMS decision have already been rejected. Still, Yoder wants local government to begin forming a plan before the effects of the closure settle in.
“We don't have time to wait and see how it's going to work,” Yoder said. “We have to be proactive and we have to come up with a plan and we don't have that much time.”
Hospital officials say resignations are already underway, raising the possibility the closure could come even sooner than Oct. 21.
