Ariel Hurtado, the chair of Hazel Hawkins Hospital’s surgery department, and incumbent board member Gordon Machado — owner of the local business, Rustic Turtle — will vie for the District 3 seat on the San Benito County Health Care Board.
BenitoLink and the San Benito County Farm Bureau will host the “Use Your Voice Forum” on Thursday, Oct. 6, 6:30 p.m., at the Hollister City Council Chambers, 375 Fifth St. The forum will be produced in conjunction with BenitoLink’s media partner, CMAP-TV. BenitoLink solicited questions from the community. Two moderators will ask those questions of the candidates and board members running for Congress, Assembly, Gavilan College, and the San Benito County Health Care Board District 3.
BenitoLink contacted each candidate and board member in order to give the public a glimpse into their positions prior to the debate. Machado and Hurtado responded by email.
BenitoLink: What is rewarding about serving on the Health Care Board?
Machado: Healthcare is directly related with everyone in life, young or old. To be part of providing that needed care, either through the hospital, the clinics, which include specialties, is a rewarding feeling. My goal is to provide the best healthcare to the residents of San Benito County. I think about that often.
Hurtado: For me, serving on the health care board is an extension of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors accept to practice ethical medicine to the utmost of our ability. I have worked at Hazel Hawkins for five years and I am currently the chair of the Surgery Department. I know the hospital, its facilities and all of its staff extremely well. People judge the hospital and its staff by its reputation. I practice first-rate medicine, therefore, I refuse to accept a second-rate hospital. A community should be proud of its hospital. The most rewarding thing about serving on the board will be to improve the reputation of Hazel Hawkins, keep Hollister residents in town for their health care needs and draw patients from the surrounding communities.
BenitoLink: What is the toughest challenge?
Hurtado: The greatest challenge we face is keeping people in town for their health care. Hollister is becoming a bedroom community for Silicon Valley employees. Patients today research their own healthcare online via quality review and social media websites. They have choices and will travel. We need to increase our presence on these online platforms in a positive way. We need to pattern ourselves after the leading rural and suburban hospitals in the country that have embraced this philosophy. When residents view the hospital as a partner in their healthy lifestyle they will let us serve them when they are in need of healthcare. The current trend of practicing 1980s medicine needs to end if Hazel Hawkins is to survive and thrive.
How would we accomplish the above? Attract QUALITY primary and family care practitioners. They are the first point of contact for patients and will refer patients to our local hospital. Without them, we cannot attract more patients into our hospital even if Hollister grows. As the number of primary care physicians grow, we can attract more specialists and provide more services to the community.
Machado: The toughest challenge is negotiating a fare reimbursement from the major insurance companies. The insurance companies reimburse Hazel Hawkins about half their contracts with Salinas Valley and a third of Monterey Community Hospital for the same procedure. It is an unfair and a hard market.
BenitoLink: What would you change about the hospital’s operation?
Machado: To continue meeting with surrounding larger hospitals to create better, smoother conduits in relations to providing the special need we cannot provide because of our size or lack of volume. To increase the use of telemedicine to provide instant connection with specialist on a 24/7 basic. Our current stroke program arrangement with Good Samaritan Hospital provides our patients in the Emergency Department to be examined face-to-face, “in touch tele-stroke video equipment.” Instant evaluation. Telemedicine is rapidly expanding and being utilized. I believe it will be a large part of healthcare, especially in rural hospitals.
Hurtado: The hospital needs to adapt its strategy to today’s healthcare environment by focusing on quality. The government and insurance companies are now only reimbursing for quality care. As the only physician on the board and upper management of the hospital, I would help educate the other board members on best medical practices. I will only support measures that have been proven to work elsewhere. This will require that board members and the hospital executives do their homework in order to contribute in a productive manner.
How would I internally motivate people to work to do the above? There is an industry standard for hospitals that we will hold ourselves to. All staff will be evaluated against these benchmarks. These benchmarks and evaluations will be public knowledge; transparency in a public hospital is necessary.
A district hospital must provide accountability, transparency and a system of checks and balances. I will provide more access to information via our website for our constituents to become engaged in our hospital system. I am excited to see the effects of this new district election process and the changes that will occur as our constituents hold their elected officials accountable for steering the hospital in a new direction.
You must be logged in to post a comment.