Healdsburg (Calif.) District Hospital was one of three hospitals that closed in October due to the Kincade fire. While the other two hospitals reopened within days of the fire risk passing, Healdsburg District Hospital was shut down for nearly a month, according to The Press Democrat.
Healdsburg District Hospital's 24-day closure began Oct. 26, and the California Department of Public Health allowed the hospital to reopen Nov. 20. The hospital has a smaller staff than the other facilities that closed during the wildfire, which were owned by Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health.
Healdsburg District Hospital's 350 employees helped clean every surface in the 50,000-square-foot facility, and additional workers were brought in to help the hospital reopen. Kaiser and Sutter sent 11 staff members to help guide Healdsburg District Hospital through the reopening process.
"The small town hospital idea is more valuable than we tend to think," Brian Seekins, director of plant operations at Healdsburg District Hospital, told The Press Democrat. "For me, I wouldn't have thought Kaiser puts much thought into a facility like us. It's during times like this, you're like, 'Wow, they're leveraging their own resources to help us.'"
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