Someone has agreed to donate money to the local healthcare district so it can open a diabetes center in Hollister, the healthcare district president confirmed to the Free Lance.
San Benito Healthcare District, which oversees Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital on Sunset Drive, is expecting to receive the unspecified dollar figure to pay for a diabetes center once a property is locked up. District officials are pursuing a property and hope to open the center during the first part of 2016, confirmed San Benito Healthcare District President Gordon Machado when asked by the Free Lance.
Other officials connected to the hospital board or hospital foundation have made mention of such a donation in recent weeks, but details have been difficult to confirm as hospital officials negotiate for a property.
With some vague mentions out in the open, including an announcement from the hospital foundation’s president referencing a donation and diabetes center at last week’s public board meeting, Machado was willing to confirm some specifics.
“Somebody’s agreed to donate toward that,” said Machado, who couldn’t confirm the person’s identity or dollar amount.
He said a diabetes center has “been on the radar” for two or three years due to high rates of diabetes and obesity in this county.
According to a study released in 2014, 26.5 percent of hospitalized San Benito County patients at least 35 years old had diabetes in 2011. Most of the county’s residents—or 76.3 percent—qualified as overweight or obese, according to findings in the same Healthy San Benito County Initiative.
The center would potentially house two endocrinologists who recently started practicing in Hollister, Machado said.
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