A dispute between Hazel Hawkins Hospital and Calstar could mean
the air ambulance service may no longer land at the community
hospital.
Hollister – A dispute between Hazel Hawkins Hospital and Calstar could mean the air ambulance service may no longer land at the community hospital.
The dispute arose when Hazel Hawkins CEO Ken Underwood asked Calstar to give county employees a discount if they need to be transported to an area hospital. Calstar, a nonprofit organization says it can’t afford to give one.
The issue came to a head when Underwood said the hospital would start charging a $500 landing fee every time Calstar touched down at Hazel Hawkins.
Calstar CEO Joe Cook said if such a fee was levied, it would have to land elsewhere.
“He wanted a discount for the hospital of such a magnitude that it was undoable,” Cook said. “If he charges us $500, should I charge the patient that? We’d just pass on the cost and I don’t think that’s appropriate. We’ll still come to Hollister, we just won’t land at Hazel Hawkins. If that means we land at the airport and have patients transported by ground … but that’s not in the patient’s best interest, either.”
The question of fees arose when Calstar flew a hospital employee to another hospital, and Underwood requested Calstar give the hospital a discount. Underwood said about a year and a half ago and one of Calstar’s regional managers promised to give the hospital a discount the next time an employee required the service. However, that manager left and a new regional manager took over, and declined to give a discount.
Vivian Smith, spokeswoman for Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, said the hospital has never had problems with Calstar, and that if an employee is transported, the fee is factored into their insurance policy.
Cook said the service generates little profit because the majority of their patients are either on Medicaid or Medical and the government covers less than half of the cost, which can reach $17,000 per ride. Calstar absorbs the rest.
“They don’t even try to pay us what it costs to provide the service, and that’s really the problem with health care today,” he said.
