San Bernardino County authorizes up to $20 million for temporary staff at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center after notice of planned labor activity
Supervisors added the item as an urgency matter Oct. 20 after the county hospital received notice of planned labor activity. The same day, they voted 4-1 to authorize eminent domain for an access easement to a Victorville behavioral health campus.
San Bernardino County supervisors on Oct. 20 let the head of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center sign staffing agency agreements worth up to $20 million combined, to support hospital operations during any strike or other concerted work activity that causes workforce shortages.
The item was not on the posted agenda. Supervisors first voted 5-0 to add it as an urgency matter, finding that action was needed right away and that the need surfaced after the agenda went out, according to the Fair Statement of Proceedings.
The authorization then passed 5-0 with no public comment. Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. made the motion and Supervisor Paul Cook seconded it, the clerk's record of action shows.
What the board approved
The hospital was told Oct. 16 that labor activity was planned that could leave it short of workers, according to the staff report from ARMC Chief Executive Officer Andrew Goldfrach. The report says that notice might not leave time to bring contracts to the board before replacement or extra staff are needed.
The authority begins once the hospital receives notice of a strike or other concerted work activity and runs through Nov. 17. Agreements may contain terms that differ from the county's standard contract language, with County Counsel reviewing them.
Any agreement or amendment signed under the authority must come back for the board to ratify at its next available meeting.
ARMC holds Level I trauma center status, the report notes, and must keep enough qualified staff on duty to protect patients and meet legal requirements.
Medi-Cal, Medicare, private insurance and other hospital revenue would pay the cost, not the county's discretionary general fund, the report says. Any needed budget change would appear later in a quarterly countywide budget report.
The report does not say which employees or which labor organization gave the notice.
Other actions Oct. 20
In a separate hearing, the board voted 4-1 for a resolution of necessity, which authorizes the county to go to court to acquire property rights by eminent domain. Supervisor Jesse Armendarez voted no. The resolution needed four votes.
It covers a permanent, non-exclusive access easement of about 0.56 acres along an existing driveway from Palmdale Road in Victorville to a county-owned site of about 29 acres. The Department of Behavioral Health plans a treatment campus there that would add 144 beds, according to the Real Estate Services Department report.
The county offered $99,000 for the easement. The owner had not accepted, and talks were continuing, the report says.
Supervisors also voted 5-0 to take an appeal involving the Muscoy warehouse project off calendar. The appeal challenged Planning Commission approval of two industrial buildings with 88,174 square feet of floor space on 4.59 acres at 3962 Cajon Blvd. The record does not give a reason for removing the item.
