Medical center takes heat on budget
Staff and labor groups decry plan to ax more than 200 of 2,500 positions
By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER, The Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 3:44:54 AM PST

Health care workers of the Alameda County Medical Center expressed serious doubts that patient care would not be affected by a new budget plan for this fiscal year at a budget hearing Monday night.

"It's very difficult to ask patients to come here when we don't have nurses to tend to them," said Dr. Linda Price, acting chairwoman of the maternal child health department.

The budget plan, unveiled last month and still under revision, puts the medical center into the black for the first time in years, with a surplus of $2.5 million compared with a revised deficit of $61.7 million in 2004. The medical center is projecting $369 million in revenues, up from nearly $300 million last year.

That additional $69 million is due to funds from a half-cent sales tax voters approved in March. Called Measure A, the countywide initiative will raise an estimated $90 million a year for health services, with three-fourths of funds earmarked for the medical center. The tax sunsets in 15 years.

The Measure A funds will partly offset decreases in federal funding for indigent care of more than $10 million, as well as the elimination of the county's cost-of-living increase for low-income patients -- a $2 million loss, according to the budget proposal.

The projected surplus also relies on $23 million in new revenue and expense improvements, including changing the way charging is done and implementing more efficient billing practices.

Staff and labor groups decried a plan to eliminate more than 200 positions of the 2,500 that staff the medical center -- which includes Highland and Fairmont hospitals and three outpatient clinics.

The proposed budget includes a savings of $12.2 million in salaries and benefits due to these imminent layoffs. The medical center, which in June had 114 vacant nursing positions, plans to cut some patient care staff, but management said qualified nurses would be reassigned to departments with vacancies.

"New jobs will be created," said George Horner, the interim chief financial officer of the medical center.

An analysis of the budget by labor representatives found that three out of five positions being cut provided direct patient care. These cuts would result in increased wait times for appointments and more emergency room visits, according to the analysis.

"We're very troubled," said Fred Seavey, research director for SEIU Local 250. "If they go down this path, patient care will be affected."

According to the unions' analysis, a third to a half of staff would be cut at Winton Wellness Center in Hayward and a fourth to a half of clinic staff would be cut at Eastmont Wellness Center.

The medical center's proposed budget estimates that emergency room visits will decline slightly this fiscal year, but the labor groups pointed out this is contrary to trends over the past few years. Highland's emergency room will have more than 80,000 patient visits this year and has been increasing every year.

The medical center, which is being managed by consultants from Cambio Health Solutions on an 18-month, $3.2 million contract, said the facilities need to make cuts to streamline the organization.

"I know there's been a lot of emotion in this budget; however, we believe it is an important start to making this a viable hospital environment," said interim CEO Michael Burroughs.

Contracts for management consultants -- including Cambio -- will total $8 million this fiscal year, up from $7 million last year. Consulting expenses are down from $11 million in 2003 and $13.6 million in 2001, according to the budget proposal. The medical center's Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the budget proposal in the next few weeks.

Contact Rebecca Vesely at rvesely@angnewspapers.com.