Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital closed its inpatient pediatric unit on Friday, adding a new hurdle for Sonoma County parents who may now need to drive their children farther for overnight hospital care.
The hospital was forced to shutter the unit and convert it into adult inpatient care because of budget constraints and President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid, according to Dr. Eric Hodes, chief medical officer at Providence Sonoma County. Hodes said the pediatric unit has also seen fewer patients compared with adult units.
“This decision was not made lightly or in haste,” Hodes said in an email this week…