They stood shoulder to shoulder under a canopy of menacing clouds united in a mission to block CalOptima Health, the health insurer of Orange County’s poorest residents, from severing ties with four “safety net” hospitals deemed to be under-utilized but beloved by patients and staff.
The unlikely mashup of foot soldiers — a dozen homeless individuals with chronic illnesses, health care executives, and doctors clad in white lab coats — held signs that read “Shame on you for taking away our care” and “Every patient matters” during a spirited 30-minute protest Thursday, Feb. 1, outside CalOptima’s high-rise headquarters in Orange.
The aim was to prevent the Medi-Cal insurance giant from terminating its contract on Monday with Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services, which owns Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and West Anaheim Medical Center.
“Garden Grove Hospital is my home away from home,” said Robin Wilson, 63, a CalOptima member who has diabetes and chronic colitis and lives just three stoplights away from the facility she has been using for 45 years. “I don’t feel comfortable going anywhere else. Garden Grove Hospital provides the best care. I can’t emphasize enough how much they do.”
Another CalOptima member, 53-year-old Wendy Bailes of Newport Beach, frequents the Huntington Beach Hospital’s emergency room and was most recently treated for broken ribs.
If CalOptima rescinds the facility’s contract, it will be a “major blow” to the community because medical providers take time to understand the needs of patients, Bailes said, adding, “They know me there.”
Created 30 years ago
CalOptima Health was created by the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1993 as a county-organized health system and is the largest of six COHS in California.
It manages programs funded by the state and federal governments, but operates independently under the leadership…
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