RNs say Insight’s questionable track record raises significant concerns 

Registered nurses at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, Calif. will outline their demands for a lease-to-purchase contract with Insight Health on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the San Benito Health Care District meeting, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today.

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. Insight’s own tax forms show that since taking over a Chicago hospital in 2021, Insight Chicago lost $57.9 million in the first three years, even as Insight Management took in more than $29.4 million in fees from the fiscally struggling hospital.

The American Prospect published a scathing investigation outlining numerous lawsuits and allegations of fraud and other questionable business practices perpetrated by Insight. The article included a quote from a former hospital administrator who claimed, “Dollar signs are what Insight sees. They do not know how to run a hospital and they don’t care that they don’t know.”

“We know what it takes to care for our community, it takes a commitment to put patients before profits and a willingness to work with the community in an honest and transparent manner to address their needs,” said Sonia Duran, a registered nurse. “Patients should not be left wondering whether their local hospital will be safely staffed in the years to come or whether service lines will be eliminated. Nurses are demanding that any future operator of Hazel Hawkins commits to a set of principles ensuring that patients will receive the highest quality of care.”

Who:    Registered nurses with Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital

What:   Speak out at San Benito Health Care District Meeting

When:  Thursday, Feb. 27 5:00 p.m.

Where: Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, 911 Sunset Dr., Hollister

Support Services Bldg., 2nd Fl. Great Room

The nurses are demanding:

• Management fees must not exceed 6 percent of net patient revenue any profits (net revenue) made during the five-year lease period shall be reinvested into the Hospital: According to 990 tax forms filed by Chicago Insight in 2022, 14 percent of the hospital’s patient care revenues went to Insight’s consulting firm for “management fees.” These fees amounted to more than $12 million. It should be noted that the Chicago hospital lost more than $7 million in 2022, putting into question a comment made by an Insight executive to a Benitolink reporter that Insight would not take management fees if their nonprofit hospital was not profitable. Nurses believe it is imperative that management fees be capped as if the same arrangement had been in place at Hazel Hawkins in 2023, the management fees would have cost upwards of $20 million.
• All medical service lines must remain operative under the new contract: These services include 24-hour emergency services, intensive care services, labor and delivery services, surgical services, women’s health services, including women’s reproductive services.
• Creation of a Community Advisory Board: The San Benito Health Care District board shall serve until such time as it is dissolved at which time a Community Advisory Board shall be appointed. The board shall have a minimum of five members at least two of which are appointed by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to two-year terms. The board should also include at least two physicians, registered nurses, or other hospital staff. The board will be tasked with auditing the facility to ensure that the hospital administration is following laws, regulations, and contractual obligations.
• Financial Assistance Program: Insight Health must make available and administer a financial assistance policy. The frontline staff must be trained so they can make families and patients aware of this program. Notices about the program (and the hospital’s charity care program) must be posted in Spanish and English in the hospital and on the hospital’s website.
• Charity Care Program: Insight Health must maintain a charity care program at an average of 1 percent of operating revenue. The availability of this program will be promoted in English and Spanish throughout the hospital, on the website, and in other materials provided by the hospital for nurses and other employees to provide to patients.

CNA represents nearly/more than 135 registered nurses at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.