Though interim Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital CEO Mary Casillas touted a “master plan” to save the hospital, two speakers criticized the hospital’s board of directors for a lack of transparency in its communication with the nurses and the public.
Even though the room was nearly filled with nurses for the Jan. 26 San Benito Health Care District meeting, there were only two public speakers, registered nurse Sonia Duran and resident Rob Bernosky. Bernosky is a consultant who advises distressed companies in situations similar to what the hospital is going through and has been critical of the board’s handling of the fiscal emergency. This time, he chided them for “listening to legal counsel and not speaking up during the public meetings.”
“We elect you for your opinion,” he said. “So far, all you folks just sit there silently. The dialogue between you is minimal because legal counsel has you all sewn up. You’ve been elected to meet in public and the law says that we get to watch what you’re doing. These are serious things. Tell us what is on your mind and what your thought process is. Don’t let the attorneys make this decision. It’s your decision. They’re here to guide you, but don’t let them shut you up.”
Before the meeting, Duran, who said she has worked at the hospital for 19 years, told BenitoLink the lack of transparency became evident after the California Nurses Association union had negotiated its recent contract with the hospital. She said negotiations took place from March to May 2022. The contract was signed at the end of July. She said the hospital CFO Mark Robinson claimed it was notified by Medicare concerning over $5 million in over payments in June. She wondered why the union was not informed about the overpayments during its negotiations with the hospital.
“That’s what we mean when we say they haven’t been transparent,” she said. “Where was all that information when they were buying all this stuff, repaving the floor, doing the roof [at a cost of $2 million], buying that other building knowing that they had this debt.” Duran was referring to the hospital’s purchase of 190 Maple Street for $1.9 million in 2022.
She said there is “successorship” language in the nurses’ contract that prohibits the board from partnering or selling the hospital without first consulting with the union.
“We go with the hospital,” she said.
Hazel Hawkins nurses joined the nationwide rally of members of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses Unlimited Jan. 26 before the San Benito County Health Care District Board of Directors meeting. The local nurses were demanding that Hazel Hawkins remain open and fully staffed as the board continues to seek a potential strategic partner in order to keep the hospital open.
Pedro Antonio Silva, the local CNA representative, confirmed that the nurses’ contract with the hospital states that the union members must be included in any negotiations. He said the rally was more than a symbolic gesture.
“We’re making sure that our voices are heard, and the community knows that this is a vital hospital,” he said. “We need to fight very hard.”
He said the union’s main concern is the board’s lack of transparency in communicating its plans with hospital workers and the community.
“There is a lack in articulating clear plans to get out of the financial hardship,” he said, adding that the nurses are trying to help by delaying an approved pay raise for 90 days, an estimated $16,000 in savings per pay period.
“There’s been mismanagement,” he continued. “It wasn’t very wise buying properties and trying to expand. But we’re going to continue to work very hard and continue to partner with the community. Our lives are here, and we want to make sure this hospital stays open.”
Neither the union nor the hospital have responded to BenitoLink’s request for a copy of the contract.
During the meeting, which was not recorded or streamed online, Casillas described the board’s ongoing efforts to save the hospital as the “immediate plan.” For the first time since the November announcement of a fiscal emergency Casillas said publicly, “We have a master plan for future growth.”
There was no response to BenitoLink’s request for a copy of the master plan and her report did not provide details beyond looking for funding and a potential partnership with another hospital.
During her report to the board, Casillas repeated much of what she said at the Jan. 23 public forum (video of that meeting is here), concerning efforts to save the hospital. These included discontinuing services such as the Home Healthcare Department in order to save $1 million in wages, leasing or selling nursing facilities, and voluntary pay cuts, which she said adds up to an additional $1 million in savings. She related, again, how the county advanced the hospital $1.1 million in property taxes, and the district received a $3 million loan from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority.
The hospital has said it needed to come up with an additional $25 million to avoid bankruptcy. According to the hospital, it had 745 employees and 41 active physicians on staff in 2021. It reported that last year it had 23,594 emergency department visits; 2,319 hospital admissions; 42,981 outpatient visits; 83,679 clinic visits; and 439 infant deliveries.
Casillas said weekly meetings are being held with legislators and lobbyists to find funding. She said a presentation for Gov. Gavin Newsom was planned and that the “runway,” the term she uses to describe extending the bankruptcy filing date, is now into April.
The bottom line, Casillas said, is that the hospital cannot survive unless it partners with another hospital that would bring much-needed capital with it to help purchase equipment, pay for services it cannot provide, and secure loans or lines of credit. She said this is not a new strategy, in that the board has been attempting to negotiate a partnership with other hospitals for five years.
There was no response from the hospital to BenitoLink’s request for the names of hospitals approached for partnering and their responses.
“We know hospitals around us potentially have better rates [for borrowing] than we do because they have the leverage to negotiate better managed care contracts and it would really help our bottom line,” she said. “A partner would also give us resources for recruiting physicians to grow services here. There’s a lot of resources we just don’t have by staying independent.”
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Hospital officials outline funding efforts, scenarios | BenitoLink
Hazel Hawkins Hospital receives $3 million loan from CHFFA | BenitoLink
Hazel Hawkins to close down Home Health Department | BenitoLink
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Hazel Hawkins, Anthem Blue Cross reach agreement | BenitoLink
Hazel Hawkins staff asks board to ‘take the ego out’ | BenitoLink
Hazel Hawkins sends notice to employees of possible closure | BenitoLink
Hazel Hawkins initiates cost-cutting and savings measures | BenitoLink
Supervisors approve $2.24 million advance to Hazel Hawkins | BenitoLink
Nurses, resident ask Hazel Hawkins for transparency | BenitoLink
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