Stockton's Dameron Hospital Loses Beds As Kaiser Permanente Cuts Ties
STOCKTON (CBS13) — About 100,000 Kaiser Permanente members at Dameron Hospital in Stockton will now have to get their medical services at another nearby hospital.
This comes after Kaiser Permamente notified the hospital six months ago, that at the medical giant is ending its contract with Dameron as of Sunday.
Romy Avena is saddened to hear the maternity unit where she welcomed her twins six years ago shut down Wednesday.
"We had a really good experience and they saved our lives actually," she said.
Avena had to get an emergency Cesarean section and says without Dameron's team of nurses and surgeons, she doesn't know if she and her newborns would have made it.
A spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente tells CBS13 Kaiser has negotiated a new contract with St. Joseph's Hospital, ending its relationship with Dameron Hospital.
According to Dameron Hospital spokesperson Scott Nariyoshi, there are about 200 Kaiser physicians, nurses and staff members at Dameron. He says about 70 hospital employees were laid off.
Nariyoshi says on Wednesday, Dameron shut down its maternity unit, pediatric unit and neonatal intensive care unit -- taking away a total of 65 beds.
Not only are pregnant women and children no longer getting healthcare at Dameron, three patients at Dameron Hospital Friday for medical services told CBS13 they were not aware they would have to get their healthcare at another hospital.
However, Kaiser Permanente says six months ago, it notified its 100,000 Kaiser patients about the changes, informing them in writing that patients will now receive services at St. Joseph's Hospital, two miles away.
Nariyoshi says over the last 5 years Dameron noticed a 26 percent drop in the number of women giving birth.
Now, pregnant women who need to deliver will have to go to other nearby hospitals.
Avena, who has plans to have more children, says the adjustment isn't going to be easy. She would have liked all of her family born at Dameron, saying,
"It's bittersweet."
Dameron's emergency room will continue to care for pregnant women and children, but won't be able to admit the patients there.
