The partners working to return hospital care to the Taft area are looking at all their alternatives as they seek a solution to the lack of medical facilities in the area.

Everything is on the table including purchasing land and building an entirely new facility, Dr. Carlos Alvarez and Neil Cabezzas said.
They are not working by themselves, either.

Two prominent local businessmen – Bob Hampton and developer Bob Colston, are working with the Alvarez and Cabezzas.

“Its really encouraging to se a valid and reliable group interested in health care in taft and will to put up their money to do something,” Hampton said. “ We are willing to offer any assistance we can.”

Alvarez issued a statement of “Our concern and commitment” to restoring comprehensive healthcare in Taft.

“We have identified Taft as an area in desperate need of medical care…and as we moved through the process of identifying the exact needs of the City of Taft and surrounding areas we uncovered far more loss than we could have imagined to only inspire us ad motivate us to the commitment we have made to helping create a solution to Taft and surrounding communities,” they said in a statement.

They are optimistic about providing that solution.

“Today we have many options that support our ability to restructure the healthcare system in the community,” Alvarez and Cabezzas said. “We bring to Taft our ability and know-how to rebuild and address all of Taft’s healthcare needs.”
Cabezzas works in the business end of the medical industry and Alvarez is a physician and head of Valley Medical Group in Bakersfield, where he has many patients from Taft.

That’s how Alvarez became aware of the severity of problems in the area and the spoke with Hampton, a patient and personal friend.

Together with help from Hampton and Colston, they are looking at all alternatives.
”Currently we are in the process of identifying land for a new medical/hospital facility…so that all the residents and visitors feels safe again and cared for in a medical sense,” Alvarez and Cabezzas said. “The loss of an emergency room has left this region of Kern County at a much higher risk. We are truly sorry for the loss that some have endured and we are working as quickly as we can to restore the failing medical infrastructure Taft is suffering from.”