Pajaro Valley health district releases draft zone maps for public input.

For the past couple of months, the Pajaro Valley Health Care District has gathered input on how its governing board should be divvied into zones, a process it is required to do after it returned Watsonville Community Hospital to public ownership in 2022.

Now, four draft maps have been released, covering the district’s boundaries from North Monterey County into Santa Cruz County. The public is invited to share feedback at a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 5:15pm at the Pajaro Valley Health Trust Community Room, 85 Nielson St. in Watsonville. A virtual forum is also scheduled for Nov. 5 at 5:30pm.

The four maps—labeled Green, Olive, Orange and Tan—divide the district into five zones, taking into consideration population size and various demographic data.

Watsonville Community Hospital is the nearest hospital for thousands of North Monterey County residents. The proposed zones that include North County vary by draft map. Tan, for example, combines Pajaro, Royal Oaks, Las Lomas and Moss Landing with the coastal Aptos.

Other maps include North County communities with unincorporated areas east of Watsonville or parts of the South Santa Cruz County’s city limits, while one map splits North County along Salinas and Elkhorn roads.

Allyson Violante, Watsonville Community Hospital’s director of government and community relations, says the district’s demographer, National Demographics Corporation, drew the draft maps based on input from the board and public.

Input received from the meetings on Wednesday and Nov. 5 will further guide the maps, Violante says. The final map could be selected on Nov. 19 or Jan. 28, according to a timeline by the PVHCD.

For information, visit drawpajaro.org.

The districting process comes at a time when Watsonville Community Hospital, like so many other health care facilities across the country, is facing financial struggles, most notably from the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law on July 4.

According to a report by CEO Stephen Gray, the hospital is staring down losses of $4.3-$9.8 million annually over the next three years due to federal cuts.

It is currently exploring partnerships with other care providers, having had discussions with Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and others. It's also reached out to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. What such a partnership would look like is too early to say.

The board will receive an update on the process during Wednesday’s meeting.