More than 100 people gathered in front of the entrance to the Astria Regional Medical Center emergency department as it closed its doors.
At 12:01 a.m. Monday, security guards inside posted signs on the door stating the emergency room was now closed as the crowd outside recited the Lord’s Prayer.
Prior to the prayer, Sister Fe Sumalde, who had served as the hospital’s chaplain for 23 years, spoke to the crowd.
“All of you are my strength,” she said.
“And you are ours,” someone in the crowd shouted back.
The emergency room’s closure comes days after Astria Health, the Yakima-based organization that owned the hospital, announced it was closing Astria Regional because it was no longer financially sustainable to keep operating it. Astria Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2019.
Astria Health officials said Wednesday they expect to cease all operations at the hospital by Jan. 22, two weeks from when they announced the closure. The Washington State Nurses Association, a statewide union that represents 140 nurses at Astria Regional, has filed an emergency motion asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to reconsider its previous authorization and prevent the hospital from closing. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday morning.
More than 463 people are expected to lose their jobs. Astria Health hospitals in Sunnyside and Toppenish will remain open.
The crowd that gathered at the hospital early Monday included current and former employees, family members and community members who wanted to show support for the workers, who endured multiple owners and dealt with numerous challenges as they cared for patients.
Those challenges helped staff build strong bonds.
“It’s our family, it’s our home,” said Shannon Keller, 36, who worked as a medical assistant for Astria Regional for 15 years.
Even when she got a job at Virginia Mason Memorial hospital, she continued to work at Astria Regional as well, mainly because of the co-workers she valued.
“You don’t get rid of your family,” she said.
Connie Heidt, a registered nurse, came during a break from her final shift on the hospital’s medical surgery floor.
She and her husband, Jeff, moved to Yakima 32 years ago to start her job at what was then St. Elizabeth Medical Center. During all but three months, Heidt had been working at the hospital.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do next,” she said.
At that moment, however, her focus was to show support for her co-workers, including those who became like family to her.
“This is my family. This is our family,” she corrected, noting Jeff also built relationships with her co-workers.
Jeff Heidt said his wife asked him to come but he would have been there anyway. “This was a second home,” he said. “I was here for lunch all the time.”
Some of those relationships span generations. Kelly Knoepfle grew up around the hospital employees, since both her parents worked there. Her dad was once director of the hospital catheterization lab and her mom was a registered nurse.
“There is staff who knew me when I was 5 or 6 years old,” she said.
Knoepfle, 40, went to nursing school and became a registered nurse. She’s worked at the hospital for 13 years, most recently as an infection prevention nurse.
Like many others who showed up, she felt sad about the hospital’s closure, but she was also worried about who would take on the patient load now that Astria Regional has closed its doors.
Just days before the hospital’s closure, she was busy working with patients affected by a communitywide flu outbreak. Now most of those patients will be heading to Virginia Mason Memorial across town.
“We’re worried about the community,” she said. “We’re worried about the staff at Memorial.”
