A letter of intent to purchase Hollister, Calif.-based Hazel Hawkins Hospital has been submitted by Flint, Mich.-based Insight Foundation of America, a nonprofit corporation, to the San Benito (Calif.) Health Care District, which oversees the hospital.
"After an extensive review of a draft letter of intent, and after the public meeting where Insight outlined its plans and commitment to the community, the board authorized execution of the LOI and provided authority to continue negotiations and due diligence, paving the way for a potential formal agreement," Marcus Young, a spokesperson for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, told Becker's in a statement.
This is the third letter of intent that the district has received in recent months regarding the hospital.
Salinas (Calif.) Valley Health and San Benito County submitted a nonbinding letter of intent to the district in late October to govern, operate and finance the hospital, its skilled nursing facilities and its physician clinics.
A letter of intent from Modesto, Calif.-based American Advanced Management, which manages 10 hospitals, was also submitted to the healthcare district in early August.
Mr. Young told Becker's that the district is waiting on a more formal proposal from the county.
"If an agreement can be reached, the Board will need to vote on approval of that agreement and then submit it to voters for a final ratification later this year," Mr. Young told Becker's.
The three letters come after the healthcare district voted May 22 to file the hospital for Chapter 9 bankruptcy after the board declared a fiscal emergency in November 2022.
The validity of the financial emergency that hospital administrators cited is currently being determined by Judge Stephen Johnson with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.
Mr. Johnson's ruling is expected Jan. 14.