Queen of the Valley Hospital

Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa said recently that it's reducing staff later this month by 81 employees, or close to 5 percent of its workforce, "to realign resources." Another nine workers will have their hours reduced, and the 179-bed Napa hospital also plans to close its 12-bed skilled nursing unit and turn those 12 beds into regular inpatient beds, to respond to growing demand. The Catholic hospital, part of the Orange-based St. Joseph Health System, is the second St. Joseph facility in the area to make significant staff cuts this year. In February, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital said it would slash more than 200 jobs. Officials said the hospital has tried to reduce expenses in recent months by renegotiating vendor contracts, implementing budget contingency plans, working decreased hours, sharing resources with sister hospitals in the system, and other efforts. The hospital blamed the budget crunch on inadequate reimbursement rates; increases in labor, supply and operating costs; expensive seismic and other regulatory mandates, and sharp increases in charity care and bad debt.