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To hear them say it, Hazel Hawkins was doing fine up until 2022 when the hospital was forced to declare a state of emergency. To the carnival barkers, this was something that befell our little hospital in the course of months, not years as has been made clearly evident with a simple perusal of their financials over the past 10 years. Something they cannot be bothered with while they continue to blame the CEO, the Board and anyone else who dares to speak in favor of the hospital.
The Barkers continue to insist that the current CEO is at fault for the hospital’s condition, claiming she lacks the qualifications for the role. However, the reality tells a different story. The CEO stepped in during a crisis, leading with dignity and reaching out to the county for an advance on tax revenue allocated to the hospital. Amidst a declared fiscal emergency, she collaborated with the CFO to bring in financial experts, guiding the hospital through bankruptcy proceedings—actions all aimed at keeping the doors open.
Now, two years later, the Barkers say the hospital’s finances have improved, noting some cash reserves in the bank. Yet, they refuse to acknowledge the CEO who stepped up, stabilized the organization, and prevented it from collapsing. To fully restore the hospital’s future, a partnership with an experienced healthcare operator is essential—one with the resources and expertise to support the upgrades that are still desperately needed.
The truth however is that our little rural hospital found itself in the same spot as hundreds, no thousands, of rural hospitals across the country: a decade or more of lackluster reimbursement rates from Medical and Medicare which failed keep pace with the ever-rising costs of healthcare.
The Barkers claim conspiracy has caused our little hospital to fall ill – not failing reimbursement rates, not a lack of funding to grow service lines, or attract new practices and doctors.
The Barkers claim conspiracy, while hospitals across California shutter with no hope of ever being opened again leaving thousands of rural residences without even the most basic of emergency care.
The Barkers say that the government would never allow the hospital to close, well guess what, they did in Madera. The only hospital in a county with 156,255 people depending on it. San Benito County has a mere 64,209 in comparison.
And when there is an option for us, because they were not invited into the tent to negotiate a deal – they cry foul. Everyone in this community should be outraged as these few small people who claim to know all the answers, even when none of them have spent even a minute working for or running a hospital. Shame on you for endangering me and everyone in our community with your distortions, theories and pie in the sky antics.
The circus can be fun, but we all know the barkers have one agenda, distract so they can get you to play games that are designed for you to lose. Ignore the Barkers and vote to save Hazel and vote to keep the hospital open and running for years to come without adding new taxes or bonds. Vote yes on Measure X!
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