Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, a major trauma center that has the only full-time inpatient pediatric unit between the North Bay and the Oregon border, will close the unit in March — raising concerns among local pediatricians that children who need hospitalization will have to be transferred to San Francisco or as far away as Sacramento.
The hospital initially announced the closure in November, citing low usage rates and financial challenges in keeping the unit open, and on Thursday provided a clearer timeline for when it will happen. The unit will no longer admit patients as of March 27, 2026.
The unit’s eight beds will be repurposed to adult inpatient beds. The hospital’s emergency department will continue to provide pediatric care. Pediatric patients who need to be admitted will be transferred to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco or Oakland, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto and UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento…