FORT BRAGG, CA., 10/4/24 – Adventist Health informed the Mendocino Coast Health Care District this week of its desire to restructure the agreement under which the health care provider leases its critical care hospital in Fort Bragg, the only hospital stretching along the 131-mile-long Mendocino Coast.
In a letter sent to Paul Garza, the district’s board chair, Adventist Health network president Eric Stevens proposed a 60-day negotiation period beginning immediately, under a provision that allows the lease to be restructured. The letter stated that if the district did not accept the proposal, Adventist Health would exercise its right to terminate the lease on June 30, 2025.
Garza agreed to the proposal on behalf of the district. In a joint press release from the district and Adventist Health, both organizations said that they “look forward to collaborating on a path forward to expand access to care.”
Adventist Health’s letter explained that its medical business, the operation of a general acute care hospital, “has achieved less than 5% EBITDA for the previous 12-month period.” The acronym means the hospital’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Under the terms of the lease, if that under 5% threshold is reached, Adventist Health can terminate the agreement on specific anniversaries, including June 30, 2025. Termination could leave Mendocino Coast residents without a hospital.
Rather than invoking the termination provision, Adventist’s letter proposed a restructuring and negotiation period to give both sides a chance to “evaluate” their relationship. If a new agreement is not reached by the end of the 60-day period on Nov. 29, Adventist said that it “may terminate” the lease on the June 30, 2025 date.
In a statement, the district said that its Board of Directors will “explore every possible option to continue to provide access to healthcare services to residents on the Coast” and “keep the public apprised of the situation as we know more.”
The Adventist Health letter and district’s statement are available here.
Sure their returns are below a 5% threshold but there is no legitimate reason that is happeneing. prior to the Adventist takeover, the hospital was operating in the black and was sustainable, albeit because they decided to take the unpopular step of closing the money-losing labor and delivery department. After Adventist takeover, they can influence and effectively control their returns by cutting specialty services on the Coast and referring patients to their inland facilities and specialists, thus running the revenue through Ukiah or Willits rather than the hospital in Fort Bragg. This seems like a strong-arm negotiation tactic to squeeze even more money out of Coast patients and the Health Care District.
No I so wish the hospital was operating in the black. It was poorly ran for years, which is so sad for all the people here on the coast.
Adventist Health has become a corporate monster! It would be grand to have the hospital running on the black again.
They had a beautiful birthing program when my eldest son was born there in 1977.
I had an outpatient procedure done at our Coastal hospital a couple of weeks ago. Afterward, I was escorted through the hospital to the parking lot, it was obvious the hospital was completely empty. There were no
were no offices being used, there were no providers or staff. Half of the hospital was completely empty. Of course the EBITDA, or profitability, was less than five percent (<5% ) if only twenty percent 20% of the hospital is being utilized.
Labor and delivery services- the excuse was cost, also removed any gynecological Women's Care Services. This set a sad presidence for coastal women who began giving birth in their cars on Highway 20 while trying to get to a hospital aside from avoidance of the pro-life abortion issue.
Lab Services- many of the Pathologists who were employed at the Fort Bragg hospital prior to Adventist taking over we're laid off or terminated ( personal discussions with Pathologists) Common Lab Pathology Procedures were removed from protocols until the Pathologists were removed. Coastal Lab Services now have to go to Ukiah to be processed.
Billing Services- despite the fact that I had a employer provided medical insurance I was required to have a secondary insurance of Medi-Cal before I was able to be seen in the Adventist rural Health Clinic. Despite having both insurances, when my medical insurance only provided 80% rather than Bill Medi-Cal, they had waited 18 months before they billed Medi-Cal who then refused to pay. Adventist billing tried to tell me that Partnership Medi-cal denied the benefits I should have reveived a denial letter (?) so I have to pay. This was for an annual mammogram that I didnt receive because the scanner was down.
Blue Shield- when you are canceling your primary coastal insurance policy provider, yes you will lose patients to Sonoma County Hospitals for primary care and non-emergent surgical procedures.
It seems to me in my brief encounters the hospital had been completely mismanaged.
Perhaps a change of Service Providers is exactly what is needed here.
This is an excellent opportunity for the Health Care District to renegotiate terms and get a better understanding/dynamic towards increased efficiency and quality health care here on the coast. The article is titled in such a way the could invoke panic, despite this probably not being the last time negotiations will take place. Certainly the public and all involved need to be involved and work vigilantly for an equitable outcome that benefits our communities access and agency for health services.
Home health was a profitable provider within the hospital system. The department was overworked and overstaffed prior to Covid and got worse through Covid and even after. The staff does more paperwork than any other setting but are paid the same as inpatient practitioners which is unheard of COUNTRY WIDE.
I used to work as an RN for mcdh in 2002 in the ICU. Very respectable place to be employed by. I was heartbroken to hear that Adventist got their grubby hands on this community hospital. Hopefully FB. Will let them walk! Then mcdh can bring back caring workers. Hell I’ll return!
As a Seventh-day Adventist, the current state of “Adventist Health” breaks my heart. In years past, it was never about money but about people. Advent Health is now a business with few ties to all we, as a church, stand for. Many years ago, it ceased to be owned by the church, though it is still listed as a “Non-Profit with Ties to the Adventist Church,” Sadly, the term you use, “Grubby Hands,” does feel like an appropriate fit. All I can say is that I, too, feel for the community and pray for a better tomorrow. I do not know the solution, but it is clear that Advent Health is sending as much business as possible to Willits and letting the local hospital show no profit on the books. In my opinion, it is a classic bate and switch as the son-in-law of a Doctor who gave his whole life to service in Adventist hospitals where the Profits never made the decisions. I feel your pain. I, too, feel that the people on the coast where we all live are getting manipulated by Advent Health to increase dollars over quality of care, resulting in more dollars for them and less quality of care on the coast.
They are greedy, and that will cost them the most in the end.
Sadly, it will cost the people far more than Advent Health.
This is what happens when government institutions are privatized and become a for-profit model.
Sonoma County dump is a prime example of county residents complaining about the county workers receiving benefits such as medical and retirement because they believed it drove the cost up. Now it’s privatized, they cut anything deemed unprofitable, like the composting and the store, and the employees are paid less, far less benefits, and it’s more expensive than ever and a cluster-fack to boot. This is only one of many, many examples.
I would love to see the people realize that things are better when it belongs to we the people, and not greedy corporations.
I echo Lori Perry comment. Adventist “grubby hands” is right. They took over the Visalia Medical Clinic saying nothing will change. Everything changed. Their health care model is a sin. This is not how doctors, pathologists, nurses, allied health care (lab, imaging, respiratory, etc.) expected to function. I hope a resolution allows your hospital to care for your population properly. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening in today’s world.
I worked at MCDH for over a decade. Paying invoices, credit holds,and juggling payments was always an issue. Obtaining high grade medical equipment was just a dream in many cases.
Adventist has allowed the coast hospital to acquire more modern technology.
MCDH Was always in a poor financial situation during my time at the hospital.
Adventist Willits and Adventist Ukiah offer extraordinary care. These two hospitals offer far superior service from admitting to surgery, and other clinical teams.
Adventist is not responsible for the systematically poor performance at Adventist Mendocino Coast. The daily census was chronically low
Just what does all of the highly paid administrative staff do anyway?
Can anyone explain the difference between an acute or critical care hospital, which is what we have on the coast, and the hospitals in Ukiah and Willits which are a different kind of hospital? I thought Adventist took over the Coast hospital because it was going bankrupt and no one else offered.
A Citical Access Hospital (CAH) is a rural hospital more than 25 miles away from a full service acute care hospital. The Willits hospital is also a CAH. They are limited to 25 in patient beds, they are allowed to have what is called “swing” bed as part of their 25 beds, which function as sub acute beds for patients that need care longer than what acute care can give. Lately, the pharm companies have lobbied, and won, the ability to carve out CAH’s from the 340B program in regards to orphan drugs. Which means CAH’s do not receive the same discounts on medications used in oncology or infusions as the bigger hospitals get. The payment system originally was set up to help CAH’s. One of the benefits of joining a larger system was to get better pricing on supplies. As a small stand alone hospital, CAH’s pay higher prices as they do not buy in large quantities.
Why do we need for profit hospitals? Is the fire, police, or school system for profit?
Yup
I’m not surprised unfortunately. AH is all about the bottom line and not at all for the people they are suppose to serve. Try not cutting services and stop ramping up consumer costs. You might actual make it so people want to choose you. Also, L&D seriously people. You try being in labor and having to travel over an hour to deliver. That’s just absurd.
I’m a candidate for election to the Mendocino Coast Health Care District board. The scenario should have been foreseen by the board and contingency plans made 18 months ago. I’ve been interviewing medical personnel and others to get the backstory on how this came about and what can be done about it now. It appears that AH has been cherry-picking profitable services and moving them to Willits and Ukiah. I’m committed to preserving our coast hospital and extending its services, not turning it into just an ER and referral service for over the hill hospitals. For more information, see my campaign website: https://mb4mchcd.com
First, AH is obligated under the Lease Agreement to open up their books to an audit to see if in fact they fell short of the 5% EBIDA target. When I was on the Board AH was not transparent enough about money usage. Demand an audit! Secondly, prior to Adventist, the District was able to keep its head above water by foregoing maintenance. Prolonging this situation would have eventually resulted in the hospital losing its license. An alliance or affiliation was therefore necessary to correct this problem and to save up some money for the cost of seismic upgrades. What was not anticipated the lack of quality leadership at the hospital. This was plenty evident, but AH protects its own to a fault.
My last comment is that this is the outcome AH wanted all along. Namely, that Fort Bragg would be a Treat and Transfer facility feeding patients into it Ukiah hospital. AH will indeed terminate the Lease Agreement is this demand is not met. John Redding, Treasurer of the MCDH Board, 2018-2022.
This hospital has left me for dead multiple times. The worst was during a twin miscarriage with sever hemorrhaging they left me alone in my room for more than 12 hours when I told them I needed a commode due to bleeding and having to use the bathroom they handed me a bed pan and told me to use it on a chair “the commode is in another room I don’t want to get it” they refused to get me transferred until I was showing life threatening complications and shortly after to was ready to leave to get my self help…. they then told me they where looking to transfer me out but no ambulance was available (3 empty ones outside and medics inside just bullshitting with the drs) After 18 hours I begged them to let me go and the nurse told me “you need to calm down” I told her I knew my rights and wanted her out of my room and my AMA brought to me NOW! About 3 hours later I signed my AMA and had my fiancé take me to UVMC where they IMMEDIATELY had me in and got ready for a blood transfusion. Took me off for emergency surgery after telling me I was going septic. This hospital is a joke and needs change I pray they give up their contract!