Nurses and advocates gathered Thursday morning outside of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, urging administrations to reverse a decision they say puts patients at risk — the closing of the only dedicated burn center in Kern County.

The protest, organized by the California Nurses Association (CNA) and National Nurses United (NNU), comes after Memorial Hospital leadership confirmed plans to discontinue burn services later this year. 

In a February 3 memo addressed to employees and physicians, hospital president Ken Keller announced that Memorial Hospital will not renew its contract with the Grossman Burn Center and will close both acute care beds and outpatient burn programs, effective June 30, 2026.

The memo states that after a decade of service in Kern County, hospital officials conducted a “comprehensive, thoughtful review” and determined that burn services were no longer sustainable. 

According to the letter, specialized burn care has experienced consistently low patient volumes, resulting in what administrators described as an “inefficient use of highly specialized staff and resources.”

“We are immensely proud of the compassionate and high-quality care delivered by the Burn Center Team, and this difficult decision was made only after extensive deliberation, a formal discernment process, and the exploration of all alternatives,” Keller wrote.

The memo also stated that Memorial plans to transition patients to alternative regional facilities and will work with community leaders, physicians, and emergency medical services (EMS) providers to ensure continuity of care.

But nurses on the front lines say the loss of local burn care could have life-altering consequences for patients.

“We want to make sure that burn care stays local,” said Sandy Redding, an operating room nurse at the hospital and one of the presidents of the California Nurses Association. “If someone’s burned, that’s a critical injury, and it can be life-threatening. We want to make sure they get immediate care, appropriate care, and then continuous care.”

Redding said nurses were not formally informed about the closure until after hearing about it through informal channels. She and others at the rally expressed concern about transparency and timing.

“The emergency room isn’t a place to do prolonged care for burn patients,” Redding said. “The closure of the burn unit will be a critical loss here.”

If the unit closes, patients will likely need to be transferred out of Kern County, potentially more than two hours away, for specialized treatment.

“The closure of the only burn unit in Kern County would be very detrimental to the outcomes of our patients,” said Tess Barulich, a nurse who spoke at the event. “Time matters.”

Beyond the medical urgency, nurses emphasized the emotional toll on families who may have to travel long distances during critical stages of recovery.

“A lot of them would not have family support, which is also very beneficial in the healing process,” said Kenia Rivera, a Labor Representative with CNA. 

Rivera encouraged community members to speak out and said letters of support to keep the burn unit open can be emailed to her at krivera@calnurses.org, which she will compile and deliver to hospital leadership.

Local burn survivor Emily Peters called the issue “overwhelmingly heartbreaking.”

Peters was severely burned in a backyard bonfire accident involving gasoline on New Year’s Eve, going into 2020. She was rushed to Memorial’s Burn Center immediately.

“As soon as I got into the ER, there were nurses by my side immediately caring for me and doing all that they could to make sure that I was feeling calm after everything that had just happened,” Peters said.

Shortly after arriving, she lost consciousness and does not remember much of the first month of her hospitalization. But when she woke up, she said nurses were there.

“As soon as I woke up, there were nurses by my side immediately caring for me, making sure I was safe and just being there for me,” she said. “They were amazing.”

Much of her stay is “patchy” because of heavy medication, but she vividly remembers the painful physical therapy sessions that were critical to her recovery.

“The care that they do is definitely a specialized care, and only a few people can do it,” she said. “It’s definitely very traumatizing for the workers, the nurses, the survivors — everybody involved.”

Peters went on to state that having that care available locally made all the difference. 

“It’s so important. I cannot stress this enough,” Peters said. “It’s amazing that we have this care in Bakersfield, and the fact that we are losing it is so overwhelmingly heartbreaking.”

“Burns don’t happen every day, but when they do happen, it’s very important to have this specialized care in Bakersfield,” she said. “We absolutely need this.”

In the memo, hospital leadership stated they remain “committed to strengthening our ability to support all other areas of care” and continuing their legacy of service to the Bakersfield community. Officials also wrote that further details regarding the transition would be shared with burn center staff and hospital employees.

Nurses, however, argue that specialized burn services are not easily replaced.

“As nurses, we advocate inside the hospital and care for our patients inside, but we also extend into the community,” Redding said. “We’re community members, and we care deeply about the health and safety of our community.”