California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1350


Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

February 27, 2015


An act to amend Section 101852 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to the health authorities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1350, as introduced, Salas. Kern County Hospital Authority.

The Kern County Hospital Authority Act authorizes the board of supervisors of the County of Kern to, among other things, establish, by ordinance, the Kern County Hospital Authority to manage, administer, and control the Kern Medical Center and for the operation of additional programs, clinics and other facilities, care organizations, physician practice plans, and delivery systems that may be affiliated or consolidated with the medical center. The act makes related findings and declarations.

This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to those findings and declarations.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P1    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 101852 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is amended to read:

3

101852.  

(a) This chapter shall bebegin delete knownend deletebegin insert known,end insert and may be
4begin delete citedend deletebegin insert cited,end insert as the Kern County Hospital Authority Act.

5(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

P2    1(1) Kern Medical Center, an acute care hospital currently
2operated as a constituent department of the County of Kern, is a
3designated public hospital, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section
414166.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and a critical
5component of the state’s health care safety net.

6(2) begin deleteCounties are end deletebegin insert A county isend insertbegin insert end insertauthorized underbegin delete currentend deletebegin insert existingend insert
7 law to integratebegin delete theirend deletebegin insert itsend insert county hospital services with those of
8other hospitals into a system of community service that offers free
9choice of hospitals to those requiring hospital care, with the
10objective of eliminating discrimination or segregation based on
11economic disability, so that the county hospital and other hospitals
12in the community share in providing services to paying patients
13and to those who qualify for care in public medical care programs.
14However, in a new era of health care delivery, it is necessary to
15pursue approaches that transition beyond acute care-centric
16orientations.

17(3) The ongoing evolution of the health care environment
18requires public entities providing or arranging health care services
19to pursue innovative health care delivery models that proactively
20improve the quality of patient care services and patient experience,
21efficiently and effectively increase access to needed health care
22services across the care continuum, provide services in a
23patient-centered manner, and moderate the rate of growth of health
24care expenditures.

25(4) The board of supervisors of the County of Kern has
26determined that providing access to affordable, high-quality health
27care services, and ensuring the full engagement and viability of
28the health care safety net in the county are essential for improving
29the health status of the people of the County of Kern. To further
30this imperative, it is necessary that the Kern Medical Center, while
31continuing as a designated public hospital and maintaining its
32mission, is provided with an organizational and operational
33structure that facilitates and improves its ability to function with
34flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation to promote a
35patient-centric system of care delivery featuring community-based
36care. This can best be accomplished by allowing the operation of
37the Kern Medical Center, along with other health-related resources,
38under a new hospital authority that is able to pursue efforts towards
39a delivery system that embraces population health management
40strategies, is effectively positioned for health plan-provider
P3    1alignment, and maximizes opportunities for employees and
2enhancement of staff morale.

3(5) This chapter is necessary to allow the formation of a public
4hospital authority for the purposes described above.



O

    99