Santa Paula Memorial Hospital

Six Oxnard teen-agers returning from a day's outing at Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia were injured when the one driving the van in which they were traveling fell asleep and ran into an embankment on California 126, authorities said Sunday. Cesar Herrera, 17, was driving his parents' van when he fell asleep and the vehicle crashed into an embankment and overturned just east of Santa Paula near Boosey Road about 1:30 a.m.

Santa Paula Hospital, which has the only emergency room in the Santa Clara Valley, opened for business Thursday morning after being shuttered for more than two years -- and it didn't take long for the first patients to show up. Ronald Van Es, 49, had the distinction of being the first person admitted into the ER. He came in before 10 a.m. complaining of pain in his lower back and right leg that started Wednesday night.

A 29-year-old Santa Paula man was seriously injured Thursday night after his vehicle collided head-on with an automobile carrying an Oxnard family on California 126 just west of Fillmore, authorities said. The collision occurred about 6 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said, and five victims were taken to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. The Santa Paula man suffered a collapsed lung and was admitted to the hospital for treatment, authorities reported.

Shuttered Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, the emergency lifeline for 50,000 residents of the Santa Clara River Valley, is set to reopen in January, county government officials said Monday. Community leaders lauded the announcement, saying the sooner the hospital reopens for business the better. The 49-bed facility closed in December 2003 after mounting debt forced it into bankruptcy.

Officials with Santa Paula Memorial Hospital have appointed a new president and chief executive officer to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Rulon Barlow. William M. Greene has been the CEO of the 75-bed Selby General Hospital in Marietta, Ohio, since 1986. He will assume his new duties at the 48-bed Santa Paula hospital next month.

A Santa Paula man working on his car was crushed to death Friday afternoon when the jack holding up the vehicle collapsed. Robert Sjolund, 59, was pronounced dead a short time later at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, said Armando Chavez, a deputy medical examiner. "The jack just gave way and the car fell on his chest," Chavez said. The incident occurred just after 1 p.m., officials said. Family members heard a yell from outside and saw Sjolund trapped under the car.

The chief executive of Santa Paula Memorial Hospital has resigned to pursue other opportunities. Bill Greene, who has been the hospital's CEO since January 1996, will remain with Quorum Health Resources, which provides management services to the hospital. Greene has worked for Quorum since 1988. Greene will remain at Santa Paula Memorial until his replacement is on the job. Greene serves on the board of the Hospital Assn. of Southern California and has been active in the Santa Paula Rotary

A 34-year-old Santa Paula man was hospitalized in critical condition after another man walked into his home and stabbed him several times, a police spokesman said Monday. Robert Macias was taken to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital at 11:10 p.m. Sunday after his girlfriend's ex-husband entered the couple's home in the 100 block of South 4th Street and stabbed him in the neck and abdomen, Cmdr. Mark Hanson said.

Six people sustained minor injuries Sunday when their pickup truck flipped on its side on the road leading out of Lake Piru Recreation Area, authorities said. At least eight people were in the truck when the accident occurred about 6 p.m. on Piru Canyon Road, said Ventura County Fire Capt. George Hatt. The six injured people were taken by ambulance to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital.

Fillmore's first Octoberfest on Saturday will feature pumpkin carving and a strolling accordion player, while Santa Paula citizens can celebrate the 30th anniversary of Santa Paula Memorial Hospital with food at '50s prices, a vintage car display and a dunking booth with local celebrities. Fillmore's Central Avenue will be closed to traffic between Main Street and Sespe Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the October festival, said organizers at the city's Chamber of Commerce.

Shuttered Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, once the emergency lifeline of the Santa Clara Valley, is expected to reopen this fall with full services after a bankruptcy judge approved a plan to pay off $13 million in debt. "People are getting their hospital back," said Kathy Long, the Ventura County supervisor in whose district the medical center is located. "There's no question they want it open today."

When Samuel Edwards left San Francisco for Ventura County in 1971, the young doctor had plans to open the intensive care unit at tiny Santa Paula Memorial Hospital -- and to sink roots into the fertile farming valley his ancestors had helped settle a century before. Now Edwards, whose gentlemanly style is a throwback to a bygone era, is helping to reestablish the bankrupt Santa Paula hospital as the emergency lifeline of the Santa Clara River Valley.

Efforts to reopen bankrupt Santa Paula Memorial Hospital advanced this week with an agreement to sell more than half of the 30-acre medical center campus to a Manhattan Beach homebuilder. Comstock Homes, which has developed hundreds of homes in Los Angeles and Orange counties, beat out three other builders Monday by offering $13.1 million for the 16.5-acre hilltop property. Last month, Ventura County supervisors agreed to pay $2.

Bucking healthcare trends, Ventura County supervisors agreed Tuesday to purchase bankrupt Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, a move aimed at expanding public healthcare for 45,000 Santa Clara Valley residents. While many hospitals and emergency rooms across California are closing, the $2.75-million deal approved by the Board of Supervisors would reopen the shuttered Santa Paula facility under the auspices of the county's Health Care Agency.

Efforts to reopen shuttered Santa Paula Hospital regained momentum Tuesday with a new proposal brought before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Supervisors meeting in closed session agreed to review the latest plan for converting the bankrupt private hospital into a county-run facility. Supervisors sounded hopeful the health center might soon reopen after shutting down nine months ago.

The Santa Paula City Council has created a public healthcare agency that could work to reopen the only hospital and emergency room in the agricultural Santa Clara Valley. Saying they must be prepared to step in should efforts to reopen Santa Paula Memorial Hospital fail, City Council members unanimously agreed Monday to form the Santa Paula Community Healthcare Authority, which would develop a reorganization plan for the hospital that shut its doors in December after years of financial struggle.

Paula Denise Ward, a lifelong Ventura County resident, has died after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 54. Ward was born Feb. 15, 1941, at St. John's Hospital in Oxnard. She attended Santa Clara grammar and high school. After graduating from high school in 1958, Ward attended Ventura College. She was then accepted into the radiology program at St. John's Hospital and became the program's first graduate. Ward was employed in the X-ray field for 33 years.

A Ventura County Search and Rescue team was sent into the backcountry near the "Narrows" in Santa Paula Canyon late Saturday to carry out a 16-year-old Camarillo girl, who slipped and fell into a narrow gorge, injuring her head and leg, a Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman said. Katie Doud was listed in fair condition at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital after suffering head injuries, a twisted ankle and cuts from the fall, hospital spokeswoman said.