BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 334|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 334
Author: Buchanan (D)
Amended: 8/11/14 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT : Alameda Health System hospital authority
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill expands a provision of law restricting the
ability of a hospital authority in Alameda County from
contracting out physician services to private entities by
clarifying that the hospital authority is also prohibited from
contracting out physician services to a subsidiary or other
entity established by the hospital authority.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/11/14 delete the contents of the
bill, and instead add the current language.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes a hospital authority as a separate public agency,
established by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County to
manage, administer, and control the Alameda County Medical
Center (doing business as the AHS).
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2.Requires the hospital authority to be governed by a board that
is appointed by the Board of Supervisors of the County of
Alameda, and requires its mission to be the management,
administration, and other control of the group of public
hospitals, clinics, and programs that comprise AHS in a manner
that ensures appropriate, quality, and cost-effective medical
care.
3.Requires the hospital authority to have the power to sue or be
sued, to employ personnel, and to contract for services
required to meet its obligations.
4.Prohibits, prior to January 1, 2024, AHS from entering into
any contract with any private person or entity to replace
services being provided by physicians and surgeons who are
employed by AHS, and in a recognized collective bargaining
unit as of March 31, 2013, without clear and convincing
evidence that the needed medical care can only be delivered
cost-effectively by a private contractor.
This bill:
1.Revises a provision of law prohibiting AHS, prior to January
1, 2024, from contracting with private entities to replace
services provided by physicians who were employed by AHS and
in a recognized collective bargaining unit as of March 31,
2013, by expanding this provision to prohibit AHS from
contracting these services to "any other person or entity,
including, but not limited to, a subsidiary or other entity
established by the authority."
2.Includes an urgency clause that will make this bill take
effect immediately in order to protect, at the earliest
possible time, the employment status of represented doctors at
AHS, which has incorporated a nonprofit public benefit
corporation called Alameda Health Partners.
Comments
According to the author's office, this bill is necessary to
clarify the protections afforded to the physicians employed by
AHS. AB 1008 (Buchanan, Chapter 311), which was chaptered last
year, required that, prior to contracting with a private entity
to deliver medical services, the hospital authority demonstrate
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the cost effectiveness of that service, negotiate with the
representative of the physicians over the decision to privatize,
and submit unresolved disputes to arbitration.
This bill clarifies that the provisions against unilateral
contracting of medical services apply to all third parties,
including a wholly owned subsidiary of AHS.
This bill is an urgency measure as it is necessary to protect,
at the earliest possible time, the jobs of represented
physicians and surgeons at AHS and ensure continued medical
services to the community.
Alameda Health System . AHS is an integrated public health care
system with more than 800 beds and 1,000 physicians across nine
major facilities located throughout Alameda County. The largest
campus in AHS is Highland Hospital, located in Oakland, with 236
inpatient beds, a regional trauma center, and an affiliation
with University of California, San Francisco medical school with
10 residency slots for physician training.
In addition to Highland Hospital, AHS also includes the
following:
San Leandro Hospital, a 93-bed medical facility in central
Alameda County;
John George Psychiatric Hospital, with 80 licensed beds in San
Leandro;
Fairmont Hospital, with a 50-bed Acute Rehabilitation Center
as well as a 109-bed skilled nursing facility; and
A network of community clinics, called Wellness Centers, which
include Highland Wellness Center in Oakland, Eastmont Wellness
Center in Oakland, Hayward Wellness Center, and Newark
Wellness Center.
Creation of the hospital authority . In response to growing
budget problems, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors
sponsored legislation in 1996 (AB 2374 Bates, Chapter 816,
Statutes of 1996) to authorize the County of Alameda to
establish a hospital authority to manage the hospitals and
county programs operating as the AHS. The bill required the
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governing structure of the hospital authority to be separate and
apart from the County for the purpose of affecting a transfer of
the management, administration and control of the AHS. The bill
required the hospital authority's governing body to be appointed
by the Board of Supervisors.
Prior Legislation
SB 1352 (Hancock, Chapter 46, Statutes of 2014) replaced
outdated statutory references to the Alameda County Medical
Center with references to the Alameda Health System (AHS). The
bill made additional technical and conforming changes to state
law and includes legislative findings and declarations regarding
AHS.
SB 1008 (Buchanan, Chapter 311, Statutes of 2013) made findings
regarding the agreement between Sutter Health and AHS to
transfer ownership of San Leandro Hospital to AHS, and specified
how employees of a facility acquired by, or merged into, AHS
shall be treated with regard to their retirement benefits. The
bill also prohibits the AHS from privatizing any work performed
by its employed physicians as of March 31, 2013, without clear
and convincing evidence that the needed medical care can only be
delivered cost-effectively by a private contractor.
AB 2374 (Bates, Chapter 816, Statutes of 1996) authorized the
Alameda County Board of Supervisors to establish a hospital
authority to manage the hospitals and county programs operating
as the AHS.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/14)
AFSCME
Union of American Physicians and Dentists
JL:k 8/12/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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