Hazel Hawkins nurses present demands in potential Insight deal

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On Feb. 27, registered nurses working at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital presented five demands to the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors which they want to see included in the proposed lease/purchase agreement with Insight Health.

Nurse Ariahnna Sanchez, who is a member of the California Nurses Association (CNA), outlined the demands, which include:

• Insight’s management fees must be capped at 6% of net patient revenue, and any net revenue earned during the five-year lease period must be invested in the hospital.
• Insight must keep all currently offered medical service lines operative.
• Insight must create a community advisory board following the five-year lease period.
• Insight must offer and administer a financial assistance policy for patients.
• Insight must maintain a charity care program for patients.

The meeting also included discussion of a recent Sutter Health letter to the Health Care District board of directors expressing interest in Hazel Hawkins and then quickly retracted, as well as a presentation of Insight’s strategic plan for the hospital. 

“For far too long now the community we serve in San Benito County has been feeling very uncertain about the future of our hospital,” Sanchez said. “Our community should not be left wondering whether their local hospital will continue to be safely staffed in the years to come.” 

Marcus Young, speaking for the health care district, which governs the hospital, said the demands are generally aligned with the district’s position. 

“The suggestions by CNA are actually in line with what we have already included in our draft covenant documents or are already covered by state law—such as nurse-to-patient ratios—and suggestions around charity care,” he said.

The nurses association has long been opposed to the sale of the hospital.

“The CNA still don’t agree that there should be a sale,” nurse Mabel Lam said. “After all, the hospital continues to demonstrate that they are in a fairly stable financial position. Your own latest finance committee report shows that there is now 67 days cash on hand, which is well within the normal range of a hospital.”

The CNA is also fighting the health care district’s bankruptcy filing. The district filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023, and a judge dismissed the application in 2024. The case is now being considered by the appellate court. 

“Nurses are highly skeptical of Insight’s ability to run Hazel Hawkins in a financially responsible manner that makes San Benito County’s health and well-being a priority,” the union said in a news release, also noting that Insight’s Chicago nonprofit hospital lost $59.7 million in the first three years after the health care system took it over. 

It also notes an article in American Prospect magazine, which alleges that Insight engages in questionable business practices including insurance fraud. Insight denied the claims. 

Insight’s expansion plans

At the meeting, Insight Director of Physician Alignment and Recruitment Dr. Asim Saed presented a plan to increase services at Hazel Hawkins. He said Insight gets calls from interested physicians about positions available at their hospitals, adding that the organization will recruit physicians from abroad and attract residency program graduates.  

He said Hazel Hawkins’ proximity to major cities would give Insight the ability to draw physicians from out of the area.

He said there were a couple of students from California that have expressed “interest in coming to the Hazel Hawkins area.”

Dr. Peter Coelho, who was chief of staff at Hazel Hawkins from 2007 to 2009, said he hopes that Insight is successful if the agreement is approved, but warned that recruiting to this area is a challenge. 

“This is going to be a wildly difficult place to recruit physicians,” he said, “so you have to be wildly unique.” 

He told BenitoLink that physicians look to join dynamic work environments which offer benefits such as good salaries, prestige and a desirable geographic location. He also said physicians are more likely to join hospitals where the administration is respected by staff.  

Coelho said he has been a physician for 28 years and has recruited physicians throughout his career. 

Over the years, public agencies and nonprofits in San Benito county have experienced challenges in recruitment and retention because of higher paying positions elsewhere.

Coelho also noted a 2024 survey in which 42 of the 46 participating physicians favored the proposal put forward by San Benito County to form a joint powers authority (JPA) with the health care district to manage Hazel Hawkins. The county proposes the creation of a medical group of 25 to 30 professionals, within five to six years of the creation of the JPA. The health care district board opted to pursue the deal with Insight instead. 

Sutter Health saga

At the meeting, Hazel Hawkins CEO Mary Casillas addressed Sutter’s brief interest in the hospital. She said the letter was emailed to the board of directors, adding that staff questioned whether the letter was real because it was missing a letterhead and had several misspellings. 

Casillas said she, along with consultant Richard Peil, Director Bill Johnson and Dr. Michael Bogey tried to contact Sutter and it took six days to receive a reply from Cynthia Lee, a signer of the letter. 

Peil and Casillas met with Lee the following day and “brought her up to speed with what’s been going on with the hospital in the last two years.” The following day Sutter said they were not interested in moving forward.

Dr. Nick Gabriel, who sits on the health care district board, questioned why the board was not more involved in the process, saying it was on the news and that it left the community with a lot of questions. 

“It never got discussion,” Gabriel said, adding that the board should have been given a chance to talk with Sutter officials.

Health care district legal counsel Heidi Quinn said Sutter’s interest would have been a decision for the board, but staff first needed to verify the letter and have an “initial conversation” with Sutter about the “vague” proposal.

“When that turned out to be an expression of non-interest, the letter wasn’t brought to the board,” she said. “There was no action, but that was the intent to bring it to the board to consider if it had been a viable proposal.”

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