Health

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital and the San Benito Health Care District this week announced that they have reached a new labor agreement with the Hollister hospital’s largest union.  Hospital administrators said they received approval from the National Union of Healthcare Workers for a new labor...

A coalition of local, state and national groups will host a pollinator habitat planting community action volunteer event May 2 and 3 at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos. Volunteers will be encouraged to spend the morning helping to prepare the soil...

Residents, business owners and other interested parties have until Sept. 6 to submit their input on the proposed expansion of the John Smith Road Landfill, after county officials extended the comment period on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report. The San Benito County Board of...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital was recently targeted by an information security hoax in which the perpetrator demanded a ransom payment, hospital officials said in a statement.  The Hollister hospital received correspondence from a suspect or suspects suggesting that an outside party had gained access to...

Members of Texas Masonic Lodge #46, located in San Juan Bautista, held a fundraiser on Nov. 12 to benefit local youth and homeless programs.  Texas Lodge’s Teresa Herrick and her husband, Kevin, spearheaded the fundraiser by holding  a “Legit Phở Cooking Class” and holiday floral...

Wildfires and climate change are locked in a vicious circle: Fires worsen climate change, and climate change worsens fires. Scientists, including those at the World Resources Institute, have been increasingly sounding the alarm about this feedback loop, warning that fires don’t burn in isolation—they produce...

A wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Benito County Superior Court accuses Hollister drug rehabilitation facility Bright Future Recovery of negligence related to the  2021 death of Andrew McConnell, a patient of the facility. According to the lawsuit filed Aug. 11 on...

The San Benito Health Care District announced Aug. 13 that Insight Health is stepping away from negotiations on a proposed lease-to-purchase agreement for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, citing unprecedented uncertainty stemming from the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).  The federal legislation will...

People who have been exposed to Covid-19 will no longer be required to quarantine under updated public health guidance issued Aug. 11 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those exposed to the virus are now encouraged to wear a mask for 10...

San Benito County will conduct a full audit of the public library after two former employees were convicted of embezzling more than $360,000 from the county.  Former library staff members Erin Baxter and Mary Alvarez were recently convicted of embezzling about $360,755 of library funds...