Adventist Health St. Helena among dozens of rural California hospitals reportedly at risk under H.R.1
Adventist Health St. Helena Hospital is one of 28 California hospitals that could experience financial distress due to cuts to Medicaid and Medi-Cal in President Trump’s recently passed H.R.1 megabill, according to research from the Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina.
A report published in June featuring the research identified 338 rural hospitals across the U.S. that could be impacted by the health-care cuts proposed in the legislation. Of the 28 California hospitals included on the list, five are part of the Adventist Health system — one of which is in Napa County.
With nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding set to be slashed over the next 10 years under H.R.1 — signed into law on July 4 — rural hospitals across the country are facing potential financial distress, staffing reductions, service cutbacks, hospital conversions or even closures, according to the report.
“Rural communities will be hit the hardest,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents Napa County. “One in three people in our district depend on Medi-Cal but three in three people will feel the impact of these cuts.”
According to the report, Adventist Health St. Helena is considered at risk because the hospital has posted consistent operating losses over the past three years, making it particularly vulnerable to the effects of health-care cuts in H.R.1.
“More than 70 percent of our patients rely on Medicaid or Medicare, and these changes risk further straining the already limited resources that rural hospitals depend on,” said Tony Albright, marketing, and communications manager at Adventist St. Helena Hospital in a statement this week.
Albright added that he urges readers of the report that lists the hospital as financially at risk to exercise caution when interpreting it. “The data sources, assumptions and methodology behind the list remain unclear,” he said in the statement.
Founded in 1878 and originally named the Rural Health Retreat, Adventist St. Helena is the oldest operating Seventh-day Adventist hospital and has been serving the region for more than 145 years.
Today, the hospital houses 150 beds and provides 24-hour emergency care. It is home to the Adventist Heart and Vascular Institute, Coon Joint Replacement Institute and Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center. In addition, Adventist St. Helena offers a range of primary and specialty care services.
In 2023, the hospital performed 1,087 inpatient surgeries, 5,039 outpatient surgeries, recorded 7,303 emergency department visits, 46,328 outpatient visits and 73,991 clinic visits, according to its most recent tax filings.
Those same documents show that in 2023, Adventist St. Helena brought in $298 million in revenue while accruing $314 million in expenses, leaving a $16 million net deficit.
The hospital has long played a critical role in the region’s health-care landscape, but under H.R.1, its future stability remains uncertain.
“This legislation threatens to widen disparities and undermine the financial stability of facilities that serve as critical lifelines and economic anchors in local communities,” Albright said of the bill.
Danielle Wilde contributed to this reporting.
