The shuttered Madera Community Hospital is seen in this March 2023 photo by Ben Hensley

The chair of Madera Community Hospital has struck back at a state Senator over being “routinely castigated” in the media over the facility’s closure in January.

In a letter dated Tuesday addressed to Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and shared with local media, Madera Community Hospital (MCH) Chairperson Deidre da Silva said her board has “no desire to engage in a public dispute with you, but fairness demands MCH be allowed to defend itself from mischaracterizations and misrepresentations.”

Among those mischaracterizations, according to da Silva, is that Sen. Caballero has been quoted in published news reports as saying hospital officials have not provided audited financial statements to her office. Included in the letter is an email dated Jan. 10 addressed to Sen. Caballero showing financial statements from 2018-2022 attached, though the statements were not included in the letter.

“You and your office has had these audited statements for more than four months,” da Silva said.

The letter also states that Sen. Caballero has been quoted as saying hospital officials have not given a plan to restore health care services in Madera County. To that point, da Silva said it is correct, going on to explain that such a plan would cost an estimated $250,000 and would take 2-3 months.

The letter states that hospital officials in February requested Madera County participate in developing such a plan to be conducted by Kaufman Hall, a nationally recognized consulting firm. That request was denied by Madera County supervisors.

There was an opportunity for the hospital to remain open and reorganize had $5 million appropriated by the Legislature in September 2022 been delivered to the hospital, da Silva said. That money was secured in the budget by Sen. Caballero and Assemblymember Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals) specifically for the hospital, but da Silva said that money “has been withheld.”

“If it were released MCH would be able to engage a professional firm to give you a plan,” da Silva said. “All of our funds are controlled by a secured creditor and a Creditor’s Committee in our Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”

The letter states that reopening the hospital would cost about $50 million, but even in that event, the facility would still face Medi-Cal reimbursement rates lower than the cost to provide those services. The letter also addresses a $150 million loan program for struggling California hospitals sponsored by Sen. Caballero and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria (D-Fresno) and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.

“What good is a $150,000,000 loan program now to prop up many California rural hospitals so they continue operate at a loss as they careen toward a fiscal cliff in a few short years? The real problem has to be fixed. MCH knows all too well that a band aid approach just postpones the problem,” da Silva said.

The letter concludes by calling for Sen. Caballero to use her office to get all stakeholders together to reopen the hospital, as well as release the $5 million appropriated last year to produce a reopening plan.

A message left seeking comment from Sen. Caballero’s office was not returned early Wednesday morning.