Two Alameda County Supervisors May Join ACMC Board of Trustees

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson on Tuesday proposed a plan to add fellow supervisors Scott Hagerty and Nate Miley to the Alameda County Medical Center board of trustees as part of a response to "months of frustration over being asked to provide emergency funding for the medical center, while being given little information about steps being taken to correct the center's financial troubles," the Contra Costa Times reports. The medical center, which operates three hospitals and three clinics, is estimated to have a budget deficit of $72 million for the current fiscal year. Also on Tuesday, James Braley, vice president of Cambio Health Solutions, a consulting firm hired to advise the center on streamlining operations, told supervisors that CMS officials issued a "statement of deficiencies" for John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro on Monday. The statement of deficiencies follows a surprise inspection of the 80-bed facility, and if not resolved, could result in a loss of accreditation and eligibility for Medi-Cal and Medicare reimbursement, which accounts for almost 50% of John George's operating costs, David Kears, county health director, said. Carson and Braley both told supervisors that Measure A, a ballot measure passed last week that will provide the medical center with an estimated $67.5 million this year, could "dull the sense of urgency" for changes needed at the medical center, the Times reports (Ashley, Contra Costa Times, 3/10). Measure A received 70.9% voter approval and will provide funds to ACMC and other heath care facilities through a half cent sales tax increase (California Healthline, 3/4).