FAQs

We are committed to providing healthcare services in Laguna Beach that meet the needs of the community and are clinically, operationally and financially sustainable. We’ve heard the community’s desire to retain emergency services and are exploring a legislative pathway that could support that. The internal, fact-based analysis of a smaller-scale hospital is to establish a shared understanding of feasibility, not a commitment to continue operating an acute care hospital.

Investing $300 million into seismic compliance would not address the challenge here or bring innovations and services to meet the changing healthcare needs of our community today. As a not-for-profit, Catholic provider, Providence takes seriously our responsibility to invest sustainably in our Mission. Beyond the seismic compliance needs, we cannot continue to sustainably operate an acute care hospital in Laguna Beach, and that model does not currently reflect the needs we are seeing in our community. We remain firmly committed to the Laguna community. Rather than closing our doors, we intend to invest in evolving the Laguna Beach campus to provide the services our patients are relying on us for today, while continuing to invest in Mission Viejo, where our community has been accessing advanced specialty care since it opened.

We are in the early stages of planning, and don’t have definitive plans for the future campus. Providence has engaged a third-party consultant to evaluate the Laguna Beach campus and help determine the best and highest use of the property, including healthcare services. What we do know is that we intend to continue serving and investing in healthcare services in Laguna Beach.

Providence and the City are working together to pursue a potential state legislative pathway that could allow for a stand-alone emergency department in Laguna Beach. We are very early in the process and will share more about next steps and what to expect as the work moves forward.

Yes. While we explore the feasibility of retaining emergency services, Providence remains committed to advancing broader planning for healthcare services envisioned as part of an Advanced Care Center. Providence, in partnership with a third-party consultant, will host a series of small-group discussions with community members, Task Force members, clinicians and caregivers to further explore, beyond emergency services, the capabilities and services most important to Laguna Beach and identify opportunities to strengthen preliminary plans for the campus.

While we are still in the beginning stages of planning, we hope to share a proposed care model with the community in the coming months.

For the most serious medical emergencies – such as trauma, heart attack, stroke, and OB-GYN-related concerns – patients are already typically transported directly to Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo or other facilities. In Laguna Beach, many patients seen in the Emergency Department have non-life-threatening conditions and are treated and discharged, while the most critical cases are generally routed to facilities equipped for more advanced services. For more details, click here.

Mission Viejo was established as a regional destination for advanced and specialty care. Bringing highly specialized services and teams together in a regional center is logical, and reflects how healthcare is increasingly delivered. Laguna Beach requires intentional investment as well, but investment that reflects how the community uses care today and what it will need tomorrow.

We encourage you to continue vising this site for factual updates about our planning process. You can also submit a comment for consideration here. In addition, Providence expects to invite the community to further conversations as we continue planning.