Woodland long-term care facility to temporarily close for roof repairs
A long-term care and rehabilitation facility in Woodland will temporarily close for repairs, after staff discovered structural problems with the building’s roof.
Cottonwood Post-Acute Rehab notified union representatives and state agencies this week, and began relocating patients to other facilities. Cottonwood’s managers expect to reopen this winter.
“The biggest thing we hope, just for the community, is that they know we’re not closing,” said Colton Rawe, manager of Cottonwood owner AWCS LLC and its parent company, Sequoia Health Care Group. “The safest route was to temporarily relocate all of our patients, make the immediate repairs, and then get everyone back here as quickly as it’s safe to do so.”
The firm bought the facility, on Cottonwood Street in Woodland, in 2023, Rawe said, and only recently discovered preexisting structural problems with the roof. The company consulted structural engineers, who advised that the roof should be repaired immediately, and that it would be unsafe to do that work while patients were in the facility.
The facility is licensed for 98 beds. About half of Cottonwood’s patients are there for short-term rehabilitation after surgeries and hospital stays. The other half are long-term residents.
Staff began relocating patients Monday, and have so far placed about half in other facilities, Rawe said Friday morning. They aim to discharge all patients by July 24.
Beginning Sept. 11, 158 workers will be laid off temporarily, according to a notice filed with the state Employment Development Department. Managers also notified the California Department of Public Health this week that the facility would close due to “emergent” repairs, agency spokesperson Mark Smith confirmed in an email.
The union that represents many of Cottonwood’s employees — the National Union of Healthcare Workers — was informed Monday night, and will bargain with the facility over the terms of the closure, spokesperson Matthew Artz said in an email. So far, Artz said, the facility has agreed to keep workers employed for 60 days after the closure, and recall laid-off employees upon reopening.
The company is trying to find work for as many Cottonwood employees as possible its other facilities, Rawe said. Sequoia operates another site in Woodland, and one in Sacramento.
The facility’s current plan calls for a reopening on Dec. 1, though that may change depending on the course of construction, Rawe said.
“We’re hoping everyone comes back, and that we’re able to get reopened as soon as possible,” Rawe said. “It’s a tough situation.”
