Kaiser Permanente is at work on a Salinas location, and eyeing a spot in Marina.

Since 2022, Kaiser Permanente has been making inroads into Monterey County. As far as public outreach, that has been largely in the form of charitable giving – to nonprofits Jacob’s Heart, Everyone’s Harvest and more. With $7.5 million, Kaiser was the largest private donor toward the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District’s 11th-hour acquisition of Watsonville Community Hospital.

But the feelings of goodwill did not extend to Monterey County’s four hospitals. In 2021, Kaiser approached Natividad, Salinas Valley Health, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and Mee Memorial asking if they’d accept Kaiser’s insurance. All four said no.

But Kaiser insurance is accepted at Watsonville Community Hospital. And that’s critical to Kaiser’s plans to open at least one clinic in Monterey County.

The California Department of Insurance requires insurers to have “provider network adequacy” so that customers can actually use their insurance. That requires an in-network hospital to be located within 30 minutes or 15 miles of a covered person’s residence or workplace. That means Kaiser could serve a swath of northern Monterey County customers, with or without additional local hospital participation.

Kaiser is not just an insurance company but also a health care provider, serving primarily Kaiser-insured patients – which is what concerns local hospital leaders. If Kaiser siphons off privately insured patients – whose insurers pay more to providers than Medicare and Medi-Cal – it upends the reimbursement formula. Seeking lower-cost health care, various union groups are advocating for Kaiser locally, with a campaign asking Natividad to accept the insurance.

“I will continue to fight for access to health care,” says County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew, who is championing a new county clinic in Marina. “If Kaiser can offer that – excellent, I am thrilled. If Kaiser can only offer that for a portion of my residents, we need to continue this conversation.”

Kaiser plans to move into Salinas, and submitted a building permit application in September, and city officials approved the permit on Dec. 20.

Sources say Kaiser is also exploring a second location, possibly in Marina.

Kaiser representatives declined to speak in detail, but in a written statement, confirm plans to serve Monterey County: “We are excited to respond to calls from businesses and individuals who have long asked that we bring Kaiser Permanente to the area.”