Kaiser's buyout of area medical group focus of talk
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

Executives with Kaiser Permanente addressed about 30 of Camarillo's business and political leaders during a breakfast meeting Tuesday at Sterling Hills Country Club to explain what will happen when Kaiser takes over Buenaventura Medical Group's eight clinics in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo on Jan. 1.

The talk was the last of three Kaiser hosted to help Ventura County residents better understand the deal that affects more than 80,000 patients throughout the county.

The acquisition, announced earlier this summer, means patients who go to Buenaventura Medical Group's doctors will either need to become Kaiser patients or they'll have to change doctors and find coverage under a new healthcare plan.

A dilemma for those patients-including Camarillo residents who see doctors at the Buenaventura Medical Group- is that Kaiser only has a contract for nonemergency patients with Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.

Kaiser and Catholic Healthcare West, the parent company for St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo-are no longer in negotiations to accept Kaiser patients.

According to a Kaiser spokesperson, St. John's officials are worried that Kaiser will build a local hospital and draw patients away from their two facilities. "Kaiser Permanente has no intention of building a hospital in Ventura County," Kaiser spokesperson Laura Gallardo said via email.

"Ventura County," she said, "has fine hospitals that provide quality care for the community. Our intent, on behalf of our members, is to continue long-term relationships with these local hospitals."

To complicate matters, the contract between St. John's and Kaiser expired during the buyout of Buenaventura Medical Group.

"When we began discussions with Buenaventura Medical Group about our joining forces we had current contracts with both local hospitals," Gallardo said. "Our St. John's contract had an end date of June 30, 2006. The timing was coincidence."

Although coincidental, the timing puts Kaiser in a bind that has already cost it patients.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to change health plans for about 600 county employees and retirees who were covered by Kaiser. County officials said the switch

was made not only because Kaiser submitted a late bid, but because they did not have a contract with St. John's and their deal with Community Memorial Hospital ends in July 2007.

Gallardo said Kaiser is "optimistic" that they will extend the contract with Community Memorial Hospital.

The law requires that Kaiser offer a hospital within 30 minutes- roughly 15 miles-of Buenaventura Medical Group's clinics. Because the nearest Kaiser hospital, Woodland Hills, is more than 30 miles away from the Buenaventura Medical Group clinic on Las Posas Road in Camarillo, it doesn't meet state requirements.

Kaiser officials continue to say it's not financially or logistically feasible to build a new hospital to serve patients in the west county.

Jane Finley, a Kaiser executive, said it costs nearly $500 million to build a hospital. In addition to the

high construction costs, Finley said there are not enough nurses within the area to staff another full-service hospital. For those reasons, Kaiser said they hope to reach an agreement with St. John's.

"We hope to reach an agreement with them to provide hospital care for our members," Gallardo said.

Kaiser officials said they are still sending patients to St. John's and there will be no difference in either cost or types of services.

Dr. Jeffrey Pearl, Kaiser's assistant area medical director, said about 90 percent of Buenaventura Medical Group's doctors opted to stay with Kaiser. Once the deal closes, Kaiser will employ about 65 doctors in Ventura County.

Kaiser opened its first of five county offices in 1987. Since its inception in the 1930s, the nonprofit has become the nation's largest HMO provider.

Buenaventura, founded in 1950, is one of the oldest and largest health care providers in the county.