RNs say home health and hospice planned closure on Oct. 31 would harm families, create patient safety crisis for the elderly and indigent

Registered nurses at Enloe Health, in Chico, Calif., will hold a rally on Thursday, Oct. 2, to protest Enloe’s decision to close its home health and hospice units on Oct. 31, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today.

Nurses are calling on the hospital to protect the health of some of Chico’s most vulnerable patients and maintain the essential services and end-of-life care provided by these units.  

“For years, Enloe hospice stood alone in providing care for underserved Medi-Cal patients and for our youngest, most fragile patients—children at the end of life,” said Ruby Khoury, registered nurse in the hospice unit. “A vital, compassionate service is being taken away, and a hospital that once led with dignity and inclusivity in hospice care now faces a painful void. We nurses demand that the home health and hospice units remain open. Otherwise, the most vulnerable will suffer first: children, Medi-Cal patients, families without resources.”

Who: Registered nurses at Enloe Health
What: Rally for patient safety
When: Thurs., Oct. 2, 2025, 3-4 p.m.
Where: Enloe Health, 1531 Esplanade, Chico, Calif. on the corner of 6th Ave. and Esplanade

“Nurses are on the front lines of bedside care, and we will not stand idly by while the hospital makes decisions that place vulnerable patient populations in jeopardy,” said Kelsey Norton, registered nurse in the radiology unit. “We will fight for our patients and their right to receive care.”

CNA represents nearly 1,100 nurses at Enloe Medical Center.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.