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At a special meeting on July 23, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to place an advisory measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters to weigh in on the county’s efforts to take over management of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. Only Supervisor Bea Gonzales opposed the measure.
The measure reads: “To keep Hazel Hawkins Hospital public and under local control, shall the County of San Benito establish an agreement with the San Benito Health Care District and other interested jurisdictions to form a partnership in the form of a Joint Powers Authority to operate the hospital?”
The supervisors’ move follows a June 5 decision by the San Benito Health Care District, which manages the hospital, to create a lease-to-own agreement with Michigan-based Insight Health Systems. That decision, which has not yet been finalized, explicitly rejected a county proposal to form a joint powers authority (JPA) to manage the hospital.
The framework agreement approved by the health care district in June calls for a five-year lease-to-own option, followed by another five-year contractual obligation to ensure Insight continues to provide the hospital’s current services. If the health care district approves the final Insight agreement, voters will decide in a Nov. 5 ballot measure whether to approve the transfer of assets to Insight.
Following the supervisors July 23 meeting the health care district issued a news release criticizing the county’s move.
“The County did not inform the San Benito Health Care District (District) staff or Board of Directors of the proposed measure in advance of the special meeting,” the release said. “The District already considered the County’s JPA proposal during a lengthy public process and determined it did not meet many of the criteria articulated by the District Board during its extensive search to find a potential transaction partner.”
The supervisors’ new advisory measure is meant to gauge support or opposition by voters and does not mandate anything, said consultant Cecilia Montalvo at the Board of Supervisors meeting.
“If there’s going to be the Insight option on the ballot, we need to have an alternative,” Supervisor Dom Zanger said, “so that voters know that there is something else on the table. Otherwise, it looks like there’s no alternative option.”
Gonzales said she supports the hospital keeping its doors open, but is concerned that the advisory measure could confuse voters, and called the proposal “disingenuous.”
“The voters will decide whether that will be a sale or a transaction that they’re going to approve of, and if they’re not going to approve it, we still have the JPA as an option,” Gonzales said.
Hazel Hawkins Chief Executive Officer Mary Casillas was at the meeting, but made no public comment. She told BenitoLink after the vote that she was disappointed with the county’s direction.
“I’m disappointed that they are not acknowledging that our board of directors did our due diligence and they have voted on what they hear from their constituents and what they feel is best for the community for longevity and stability of health care in San Benito County,” Casillas said.
When asked why she believed the Insight deal was the best option for the hospital, she said she’s seen how vulnerable health care can be in California.
“To get through those vulnerable times, we need funding; we need money,” she said. “And the only option that came to the district that has backing of funds and money is Insight.”
Hospital board director Devon Pack told the supervisors the hospital needs a transactional partner that will help solve its systemic issues, such as negotiating with medical providers.
“I would suggest to the board, respectfully, that the advisory measure is not the best allocation of the county’s resources in this regard,” Pack said. It will cost the county $50,000 to $65,000 to place the measure on the ballot.
Hollister Mayor Mia Casey, who said she was calling in as a concerned resident and not in her official capacity, said the measure was “misguided,” and reminded the board that the county does not have jurisdiction over the hospital.
“This proposed action seeks to interfere and undermine that authority,” Casey said. “Including an advisory vote for this JPA on the ballot will mislead voters.”
Isabella Zanger, a registered nurse at Hazel Hawkins and a member of California Nurses Association, one of two unions that objected to the hospital’s 2023 bankruptcy filing, supported the county’s proposed measure.
“As we recently learned in the bankruptcy crisis, the hospital is financially solvent,” she said. “It is not a hospital in distress, nor does it have to be up for sale.”
Other speakers shared support for the measure, citing a wish to keep the hospital under local control.
“I think that the nurses and the doctors and the community should be able to have the ability to make certain decisions,” Aromas resident and local activist Mary Hsia-Coron said.
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