The news traveled fast when St. Helena Hospital officials announced plans to close the Napa and Upvalley branches of JobCare — an arm of the hospital that provides work-related injury care and more to thousands of winery employees and others each year.

In a prepared statement, JoAline Olson, president and CEO of St. Helena Hospital, said the decision came after JobCare — which also provides physicals, drug testing and safety training — proved to be “a consistent money-loser.”

But now there is new news: JobCare is back.

Lora Price, human resources manager of St. Helena’s Duckhorn Wine Company, was not quiet about her disappointment in the hospital’s decision to cut the program. She said the closures, slated for both JobCare locations on Jan. 11, prompted questions about why the hospital did not first turn to the wine industry for financial help.

“I had not heard a peep from anyone about it. I contacted JobCare and let them know how dissatisfied I was by their decision,” she said.

Even after a JobCare employee let her know that the decision was not up for debate, Price did not back down.

“I said, ‘Well, you haven’t heard the last of me yet,’” she said, adding that St. Helena’s JobCare facility is the “best and closest place” to take employees who are injured while on the job.

As word of the impending closures spread, it yielded unforeseen results — a healthy outcry against them from local wine industry professionals, doctors and business community leaders, said Price.

Human resource and medical professionals in Rutherford, St. Helena, Calistoga and Angwin kept the pressure on to keep the program, she said.

After an outpouring of support from the community, St. Helena Hospital reconsidered the closures and agreed on a compromise — closing JobCare in Napa but opting to save the St. Helena location.

“In Napa, there are other occupational medicine options. ... The St. Helena Hospital location remains open because there are few alternatives ... and so we agreed to maintain it, even at a financial loss,” Olson said in a prepared statement, adding that JobCare is kept afloat financially by workers’ compensation carriers, wineries and other area employers.

Mary Turk Nielson, regional director of marketing at St. Helena Hospital, confirmed that JobCare is operating on a deficit of about $200,000 annually.

While JobCare’s financial health outlook has yet to be worked out, Nielson added that local business’ reactions to the decision to keep the St. Helena JobCare facility have been “very, very positive.”

Rex Stults, industry relations director for Napa Valley Vintners, said St. Helena Hospital is collaborating with his organization to explore short- and long-term financial solutions for keeping JobCare open in St. Helena.

The decision to keep the facility open is good for Napa Valley employers, employees and the community, he said.

“It’s nice that the hospital recognized that need ... and made the decision to keep the program going forward even though they’re running on a deficit,” he said.

Olson said JobCare opened in St. Helena in 1987, serving 7,500 people in 2007 alone. The Napa branch opened in 1995, treating thousands more until its closure on Jan. 11, she said.