YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - A group of Washington state lawmakers are exploring ways to assist residents impacted by the closure of a regional medical center.
Astria Regional Medical Center in Yakima announced its closure earlier this month as a result of financial instability, The Yakima Herald reported.
Parent company Astria Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
State House Reps. Gina Mosbrucker, Jeremie Dufault and Chris Corry said the closure is expected to have a widespread effect on Yakima County, southeast of Seattle.
More than 460 people are expected to lose their jobs following the closure of the medical center, which will leave Yakima with one operating hospital, Virginia Mason Memorial.
Mosbrucker said she plans to meet Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington State Nursing Association, which represents 140 nurses at Astria Regional.
Mosbrucker hopes to discuss financial assistance for workers affected by the closure.
“I’m arguing that this is an emergency,” she said. “I’m concerned with the health care providers, but I’m also really concerned with the service workers: the kitchen, the custodial staff.”
The closure was unexpected and the result of poor management, Dufault and Corry said.
Astria Health hospitals in Sunnyside and Toppenish and Astria’s outpatient services in Yakima are expected to remain open.
Dufault has introduced a bill that would bring the Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rate at Astria’s Toppenish hospital up to what the Sunnyside and Yakima locations were receiving.
Corry hopes to find a way to ensure hospital accountability, but they were both wary about implementing new regulations, he said.
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