By Kristina Houck / Patch San Diego / April 17, 2026
Eighty-three hospitals in California are among 446 across 44 states and Washington, D.C., facing a heightened risk of closing, cutting services or laying off workers due to federal medicaid funding cuts, according to a new report. Three from San Diego County are numbered among those at risk.
The cuts to Medicaid were included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025.
The report by Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, says the law will cut $911 billion in federal spending on Medicaid and CHIP over 10 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
Currently, California provides Medicaid coverage to eligible adults and children through Medi-Cal, the state’s public health insurance program. The state also uses Medi-Cal to support behavioral health services for children, teens and young adults under 21, connecting those with mental health needs to care through county-based systems and managed care providers.
New federal Medicaid requirements, set to take effect next year, could cause as many as 1.4 million Californians to lose coverage in the first year of implementation and up to 3.4 million over the next 10 years, according to a report by CalMatters.
Hospitals At Risk
California has the highest number of at-risk hospitals, according to a report by Public Citizen. Public Citizen identified these 83 hospitals at a higher risk of closing, cutting services, or laying off workers.
Here are the 3 from San Diego area
- Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego
- Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Chula Vista
- Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside
Los Angles area and other sites in SoCal:
- PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles
- Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, Los Angeles
- Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Los Angeles
- El Centro Regional Medical Center, El Centro
- East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital, Los Angeles
- Glendale Memorial Hospital & Health Center, Glendale
- L.A. Downtown Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Anaheim Global Medical Center, Anaheim
- Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale
- Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro, San Pedro
- Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills
- Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Anaheim
- Loma Linda University Health – Murrieta, Murrieta
Communities served by the at-risk hospitals have larger shares of Black and Hispanic residents and people living below the poverty line than communities served by other hospitals, according to the report.
The report found that those hospital service areas were 20.2% Hispanic and 13.3% Black on average, compared with 13.0% Hispanic and 8.9% Black for other hospitals. Nearly 20% of the at-risk hospitals, or 85 facilities, serve high-poverty areas, according to the report.
California Closures, Cuts
California hospitals are facing severe financial strain, with rural facilities particularly at risk of closures and cuts.
Glenn Medical Center, located in the rural city of Willows, closed its emergency room in October 2025 after losing the necessary federal status to remain funded.
In February, a new federal law restored the “critical access” designation for the center, the only hospital in Glenn County. However, the center said it needs $40 million to $50 million to restart operations and bring back staff, according to a report by CalMatters.
Addressing Medicaid Cuts
At the federal level, Congress added a $50 billion Rural Health Fund to the law to “stabilize and strengthen rural hospitals and providers,” according to the report. But the analysis says there is uncertainty about whether that funding will be sufficient to prevent hospital closures or reductions in services.
— With reporting by Caren Lissner
