Following a GV Wire report, an Adventist Health executive says he is “hopeful” a deal will be reached with Santé Health System before a February deadline, meaning 2,600 people in Fresno and Kings counties will be able to keep their current providers.

Both the hospital and the physician network recently announced that a deal between the two had fallen apart, meaning people who had signed up for Santé’s plans would not be able to use Adventist Health as their providers.

However, Kiyoshi Tomono, partnership executive with Adventist Health, said on Thursday that talks between the two are still happening and an agreement could be reached before Feb. 15, when the plan is set to expire.

“I am hopeful that both sides will be able to reach some kind of agreement,” Tomono said. “That’s kind of the challenge in all of this and part of the frustration with the patients is, they need to be notified that this change is coming, but you also don’t want to create unnecessary worry.

“What I would hope at the very end of all this, we’re able to reach an agreement and then there will hopefully be no disruption in patient care.”

A request for comment on the latest developments made to Santé on Thursday morning was not immediately returned.

Adventist Health the Only Provider for Many Rural Communities

Late last year, the two groups began renegotiating on a renewed contract as ongoing agreements, such as the one with Santé, need to be constantly reviewed, Tomono said.

“Just like everybody else, as inflation and things get more expensive, we have to renegotiate the terms of our contract that may have been in place for years and years,” Tomono said.

This month, Adventist Health posted on its website that the deal had fallen apart and the contract would end Feb. 15.

Social media groups in Kings County began circulating the official announcements. Adventist Health’s hospitals and clinics are, for many communities, the only health care provider nearby.

While Santé said the announcement caught them off-guard, Tomono said negotiations have been ongoing with a call between the two occurring Wednesday. He said media reports added “urgency” to the talks.

Tomono said the two groups want patients to be able to keep their Adventist Health provider.

“That’s the end goal out of all of this is for the patients to be able to continue to see that provider that they’ve created a relationship with … that has been now following their wellbeing or health journey over the last 10 years,” Tomono said.