A dispute between Hazel Hawkins Hospital and Calstar could mean
the air ambulance service that transports 75 percent of local
patients to regional hospitals may no longer land at the community
hospital.
Hollister – A dispute between Hazel Hawkins Hospital and Calstar could mean the air ambulance service that transports 75 percent of local patients to regional hospitals may no longer land at the community hospital.
The dispute arose when Hazel Hawkins CEO Ken Underwood asked Calstar – which hospital officials say can charge more than $17,000 per trip – to give county employees a discount if they need to be transported to an area hospital by air. Calstar, a nonprofit organization says that it is operating on a slim margin and 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 on the organization, it would have to land elsewhere, perhaps the Hollister airport.
“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.”
Underwood said Calstar’s unwillingness to provide a discount for county employees or contract with any of the major insurance companies to reduce business owner’s costs could result in increased insurance premium costs for county employers.
“It affects every employer in the community that provides health insurance to its employees. If they’re paying 100 percent of charges, the insurance companies pass the costs on to the business with higher premiums the next year,” Underwood said. “Our fall back position is if we can’t negotiate an acceptable discount we’ll have to institute a landing fee.”
Calstar and Stanford Life Flight are the two main air ambulance services that fly out of Hazel Hawkins, however because Calstar flies out of Gilroy and Salinas, they service Hazel Hawkins about 75 percent of the time, according to Underwood.
Underwood is confident a deal will be reached even though Cook said he’s never spoken with Underwood and said the companies are not negotiating at this point as far as he’s concerned.
And even if it’s not with Calstar, he believes air ambulance service in San Benito County won’t be disrupted.
“Stanford Life Flight has indicated they will be more than willing to increase the number of flights to San Benito County. Stanford’s service is excellent and they have the capacity and capability of providing 911 response to San Benito County,” Underwood said. “I don’t see any reduction in service, in fact, service might improve if Stanford Life Flight increases service.”
The question of landing fees arose recently 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 an employee was flown 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 this time declined to give a discount.
Underwood said the issue is not just one affecting the hospital, but every self-insured business owner in San Benito County. If an employee is transported, the insurance company would be required to pay 100 percent of the flight fee – possibly causing the insurance company to raise the businesses’ insurance premiums.
Underwood said he’s simply asking that Calstar be competitive with other air ambulance services. But Cook said in the past year he could only recall two patients being flown who had private insurance. The other patients had Medical or Medicaid.
Vivian Smith, spokeswoman for Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, said the hospital has never had any problems with Calstar, and that if an employee is transported, the total fee is factored into their insurance policy.
Calstar transports about two to three patients a month from Hazel Hawkins, Cook said. Usually these are patients who are already at the hospital but need to be taken to a trauma center.
Although Cook conceded the service is expensive, he said they generate little profit because the majority of their patients are either on Medicaid or Medical and the government covers about one-third of the total cost for a patient on Medical and 40 percent of one on Medicaid. Cook said 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. “It’s why we’re all struggling to stay alive because we’re providing more service than what the government’s paying for.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
