Local leaders and residents are demanding answers after Seton Coastside’s emergency room temporarily closed in Moss Beach, leaving patients having to look elsewhere for care while in extreme need.
The hospital is citing needed repairs due to storm damage. They don't plan to reopen until the end of the year.
San Mateo County leaders said they need to reopen and now, attorneys are involved. Patients are being referred to Seton Daly City, which is more than a 20-minute drive from Seton Coastside, depending on the traffic.
“I’ve been to that emergency department a couple of times. One time was kind of serious so, its just good to have that emergency room. People need it,” said Half Moon Bay resident William Peeters.
Peeters has lived in Half Moon Bay for 35 years. Seton Coastside is the closest emergency department to him and neighbors in the area. It closed on Apr. 1 temporarily because of needed repairs after severe storm damages.
Seton Coastside released the following statement to NBC Bay Area on Wednesday:
"The closure of Seton Medical Center Coastside on April 1, 2024 is only temporary and was necessary to undertake extensive building repairs because of severe storm damages and major repairs. The temporary closure was approved by the California Department of Public Health. Work is in progress and the repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Consideration was given to keeping the Standby Emergency Department open during the repair and renovation of the buildings, but this was not feasible because of the extent and nature of the damages to and condition of the facility and that required ancillary services would not be available during construction. If patients need Emergency care, we're asking them to go to Seton Medical Center's Emergency Department at 1900 Sullivan Ave, Daly City, CA 94015, which is a 15-20 minute drive from our Seton Coastside facility."
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But local leaders are concerned about the lack of transparency and emergency care for a big area along the coast.
Representative Anna Eshoo said in a letter to the director of the California Department of Public Health that 45 minutes can determine whether patients suffering from acute medical conditions will survive.
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Dr. Renee Hsia with UCSF, who has studied the effects of emergency department closures for the last two decades, said that driving further could affect the patient's outcome.
"When we have farther driving distance, that doesn't just mean the patients have to go father, it means the ambulance needs to go farther. So we have longer times that one ambulance is out of service. That means that when you call 911, because its on the road there and back, its gonna take longer for them to respond to your call," she said.
San Mateo County Attorney Rebecca Archer sent a letter to AHMC Healthcare, demanding they reopen the emergency department, citing that the closure violates an agreement in which funding was provided for seismic retrofitting.
“As part of that agreement, they agreed not to close Seton Coastside or other hospitals in accordance with an agreement they have with the attorney general,” she said.
As of Wednesday night, the emergency department remains closed. Now San Mateo County is trying to figure out which steps to take to ensure care along the coast. But people for now are left to think what they will do in an emergency situation.
“My wife has been there. I’ve taken her there, she had a broken leg. She was in a lot of pain, so driving over the hill would not be good,” Peeters said.
