Alameda County Supervisors Approve Budget, Offer County Medical Center Additional Funds
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Friday approved a $1.8 billion budget that includes an additional $700,000 in funds for the Alameda County Medical Center to help compensate for a $2.4 million budget shortfall reported by the facility last week, the Contra Costa Times reports. County health officials asked the board to supplement the allocation for the "independently operated hospital" -- which receives about one-fourth of its funding from the county -- or "face cutbacks" in services. The board eventually agreed to the funding request after health officials presented a plan to balance the hospital's budget. But Supervisors Nate Miley and Keith Carson "strongly criticized" the officials for "reporting the deficit so late in the budget process" and "questioned the judgment" of the medical center's operators. "The medical center is trying to put its burden on the county to ... cover up this situation, which clearly falls [within] their realm of responsibility. They need to look into their own reserves," Miley said (Contra Costa Times, 6/23).
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