Providence Mission Meeting Held in Council Chambers August 20 at 4:30 p.m., Providence Mission CEO Seth Teigen presented Providence’s detailed plan responding to the Laguna Beach Task Force’s requests about the planned closing of the ER

“We recognize the hospital is going to have to look differently,” Teigen told city council. “Essentially, you can have an acute care hospital or nothing.”

Providence’s own plan tells us what that “different” hospital is supposed to become: “Urgent care and expanded outpatient medical services.” That’s not an ER. It can’t take ambulances or provide the emergency-care capabilities of an acute-care hospital. And once the ER is gone, you can’t get those minutes back.

If Mission Hospital Laguna’s ER closes, ambulances will have to travel farther — through our infamous traffic on Coast Highway or Laguna Canyon Road. When minutes matter, is that lost time worth the risk?

Here’s the irony:

The time it takes you to show up at today’s meeting is less than the time you could lose getting to a distant ER in a real emergency.

Cardiac, Stroke, medical emergencies
Nearly a third of Laguna Beach residents are 65 or older — among those most at risk for a heart attack or stroke. When minutes matter, urgent care can’t help cardiac arrest, stroke, brain bleed.

Car Accidents –
Any accident . . .

If our ER closes, the nearest one is 8.6 miles away — through Coast Highway or Laguna Canyon Road traffic. When minutes matter, urgent care can’t make up the distance or critical time lost.

Rattlesnake encounters are spiking across Orange County. Our parks and open space are confirmed hotspots. When minutes matter, urgent care can’t provide the antivenom needed.

Pills, Poisoning and OD

From a child’s medicine cabinet to a mix-up in an older adult’s pillbox, poisoning can happen in any Laguna Beach home. When minutes matter, urgent care can’t run the labs or give the antidotes needed to save lives.

Providence’s Answer to Laguna: Triage!

Laguna welcomes more than 6.5 million visitors per year. We are the DUI capital of Orange County. Accidents and emergencies are bound to happen.

Our ER also serves people throughout South Orange County. If Laguna’s ER is shut down, it means longer trips to an ER, longer waiting times to be seen, and fewer available beds.

Get Involved by emailing lagunaadvocates@duck.com
Sign the Petition To Save the ER