Nurses at Hollister, Calif.-based Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital are presenting a petition to the San Benito County Health Care District saying that the hospital does not need to be in bankruptcy and urging the board to avoid cutting services.
In May, the hospital filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, a move that was opposed by many of the hospital's clinicians. The 1,500 clinicians that signed the petition pointed to a report commissioned by the San Benito County supervisors that said the hospital "does not need to be in bankruptcy or sold to a for-profit provider."
In August, Hazel Hawkins was one of 17 struggling hospitals that received a state-backed loan.
"As far as we understand, the district has failed to respond to the San Benito County proposal in any way," Sonia Duran, RN, said in Nov. 15 California Nurses Association news release. "It boggles the mind to think there is a pathway to save the hospital from bankruptcy and to keep the hospital public but those in charge of the stewardship of Hazel Hawkins have not even picked up the phone or sent an email to follow up."