Petaluma Health Center lays off 32 staff, including 8 medical workers, as COVID-19 dollars run out

The Press Democrat - 3/12/2024

Mar. 11—Petaluma Health Center has laid off 32 employees hired during the pandemic after the federal COVID-19 funding that covered their jobs ran out late last year, the provider said Monday.

Pedro Toledo, Petaluma Health Center's interim CEO, said the move was part of an effort to restructure the organization now that the pandemic emergency has ended.

Toledo said during the pandemic, the health center was receiving about $5 million annually in government COVID-19 funds. He said the last of those funds dried up in December.

"It's unfortunate because there's still quite a bit of COVID work ... but also the pandemic is over," he said. "We're shifting back to normal operations. We're no longer having to do as much around infection control as we used to."

Toledo said the layoffs took effect Sunday and that the bulk of the employees impacted were "managerial." He said medical positions comprised 8 of the 32 layoffs, including four nurses and some patient navigators.

The cuts represent 5% of the overall workforce.

"We're really focusing on financial sustainability and developing a model that we can expand into the future," Toledo said.

The Petaluma Health Center operates clinics in Rohnert Park, as well as Point Reyes and Bolinas in western Marin County. It is one of the largest primary health care providers in Sonoma County, serving 40,000 patients and logging 275,000 medical visits a year.

The health center also has plans to expand services in Rohnert Park, where it recently purchased an urgent care center from Providence. It plans to reopen the 15,000-square-foot facility as an urgent care center and clinic in October. Obstetrics and behavioral health services also will be offered there.

Expansion plans also include a merger with a neighboring clinic in Sonoma Valley. Toledo said Monday the layoffs and efforts to restructure the organization have nothing to do with expansion-related costs.

"The reason we're having to do this is because the COVID funding is gone," he said. "The Rohnert Park urgent care and the Sonoma Valley projects are funded outside of operations, there's other funding that's coming in to support that."

Elece Hempel, vice president of the Healthy Petaluma District & Foundation, which funds health care initiatives in southern Sonoma County, said she didn't expect the layoffs of managerial staff to have significant impact on services.

Hempel, who is also executive director of Petaluma People Services Center, said health care organizations everywhere are feeling the sting of vanishing COVID-19 funds.

"The health center has always done an amazing job of serving their clients and meeting the need," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.

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