KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Residents in Kings County are raising concerns after Adventist Health canceled its contract with Sant\u00e9 Physicians Network, a move they say was made without proper notice and is already disrupting access to care in the region.<\/p>\n
The contract termination is set to take effect Feb. 15, 2026. <\/p>\n
One local patient tells FOX26 they only learned about the change after calling to schedule a routine doctor\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n
Kings County is a rural area with limited health care options. <\/p>\n
Adventist Health operates the county\u2019s only hospital, and many local doctors and clinics are affiliated with the system. <\/p>\n
Patients say the sudden cancellation has left both providers and families scrambling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision will 100 percent impact our rural community,\u201d the patient tells FOX26. \u201cFrom people who rely on local access to care, to doctors who are now forced to navigate uncertainty for themselves and their patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many residents, losing in-network providers could mean traveling to another county for medical care, something advocates say isn\u2019t realistic or equitable, especially for seniors, low-income families, or those with chronic conditions.<\/p>\n
Patients also expressed frustration over the lack of communication, saying neither members nor providers were given written notice ahead of time. <\/p>\n
Some physicians who were previously in-network are now trying to determine how to continue caring for their patients with little guidance.<\/p>\n
The patient says they reached out to Adventist Health\u2019s Roseville office but have not yet received a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who pays a substantial amount for health insurance, it\u2019s deeply frustrating to not be able to access care in my own community,\u201d they said. \u201cI\u2019ve raised my voice for people who don\u2019t have access to adequate care, and now my own family is impacted too.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also questioned how the decision aligns with Adventist Health\u2019s mission to serve the communities where it operates.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur community deserves transparency, accountability, and access to care,\u201d the patient said. \u201cEspecially in a rural setting where options are already limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
FOX26 reached out to the California Department of Managed Health Care to ask: Does a health plan that terminates a contract with a network provider give written notice to the DMHC within a specific time?<\/p>\n
DMHC responded saying: <\/p>\n
When a contract terminates between a health plan and a hospital or provider group, DMHC-licensed health plans must submit a \u201cBlock Transfer Filing\u201d to the Department when a contract termination affects 2,000 or more assigned members. The DMHC reviews these filings to ensure compliance with the law, including to ensure the plan\u2019s network remains adequate to provide care to members and impacted members are timely notified of the termination and their rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Residents in Kings County are raising concerns after Adventist Health canceled its contract…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-144017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}