Registered nurses applaud San Benito Board of Supervisors for their efforts to keep Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital a public institution

San Benito County Board of Supervisors special meeting on Tuesday

Registered nurses from Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, Calif., will attend the Tuesday, July 23 San Benito County Board of Supervisors special meeting to discuss their ongoing concerns about patient safety and the future of the public hospital, announced California Nurses Association (CNA) today. Nurses want to thank the board of supervisors for the continued pursuit of options to keep the hospital public.

"Nurses want to thank the board of supervisors for the heavy lifting they are doing to underscore to the public why it is important to keep Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital a public institution and why a sale to a private entity is harmful and unwarranted," said Arihanna Sanchez, a registered nurse in the emergency department. "As nurses whose main concern is the health and welfare of the public, we know that public oversight is critical to ensure that the needs of our community are met."

Who: Registered nurses with Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital
What: Special Board of Supervisors meeting
When: Tuesday, July 23 - meeting starts at 9 a.m. discussion on Hazel Hawkins expected to start at 10 a.m.
Where: Board of Supervisors Chambers in the County Administration Building, 481 4th Street, Hollister, Calif.

Nurses commend the board of supervisors' hiring of ECG management consultants who last year presented a report, "Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Assessment" which recommended a workable pathway forward for local governance of the hospital. The report concluded the community would be best served by "establishing a new hospital governing board" and "new administrative leadership." The consultants recommended the creation of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to oversee the management of the hospital.

In May, the board of supervisors presented their JPA proposal to the health care district. The JPA would retain local control over health care decisions for the community. Despite a groundswell of support for the proposal from the nurses and the public, in June the San Benito County Healthcare District Board voted to exclusively pursue negotiations with Insight Foundation, a private entity based in Michigan. The proposed sale to Insight must now be put to a public vote.

"Every step of the way, we have seen the district board ignore the concerns of the public and try to convince nurses and the bankruptcy court that the hospital was on the brink of collapse or closure," said Diane Beck, a registered nurse in the medical-surgical unit."However, the nurses prevailed in court, showing the hospital was indeed solvent and was in far better financial standing than the board acknowledged."

As the nurses work to maintain the hospital as a public institution, they are also fighting to maintain high standards of care in the hospital. Hazel Hawkins management has recently proposed the use of remote monitoring program for intensive care unit patients. Nurses are clear that the use of remote monitoring is designed to eliminate intensive care unit staff and will jeopardize patient safety.

"Patients who are in the intensive care unit are the most vulnerable and their conditions can take a dramatic turn in just seconds," said Sonia Duran, a registered nurse in the medical-surgical unit. "It is completely inappropriate for the hospital to employ remote monitoring in the intensive care unit when it is essential to have nurses at the bedside who can assess and respond to the monitor within seconds. What good is a monitor if there are not a sufficient number of nurses to respond when it goes off? We think it is important that the public understand how management is attempting to downgrade care to our patients."