Options for Medical Center to Be Considered

Supervisors will begin looking at several dramatic options for financially troubled Natividad Medical Center, from closing to a sale of the Monterey County-operated hospital.

The Board of Supervisors will spend the next two months reviewing options presented during a meeting Tuesday that underscored a sense of urgency for the Salinas hospital.

Analysts have said that various cost-cutting measures already imposed at Natividad will help the hospital end this fiscal year in the black, but caution that growing operating costs may put the hospital $8.8 million in the hole next year.