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Article 1. General Provisions of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 101. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 5.5. >> Article 1.
(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Kern County Hospital Authority Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Kern Medical Center, an acute care hospital currently operated as a constituent department of the County of Kern, is a designated public hospital, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 14166.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and a critical component of the state's health care safety net.
(2) A county is authorized under existing law to integrate its county hospital services with those of other hospitals into a system of community service that offers free choice of hospitals to those requiring hospital care, with the objective of eliminating discrimination or segregation based on economic disability, so that the county hospital and other hospitals in the community share in providing services to paying patients and to those who qualify for care in public medical care programs. However, in a new era of health care delivery, it is necessary to pursue approaches that transition beyond acute care-centric orientations.
(3) The ongoing evolution of the health care environment requires public entities providing or arranging health care services to pursue innovative health care delivery models that proactively improve the quality of patient care services and patient experience, efficiently and effectively increase access to needed health care services across the care continuum, provide services in a patient-centered manner, and moderate the rate of growth of health care expenditures.
(4) The board of supervisors of the County of Kern has determined that providing access to affordable, high-quality health care services, and ensuring the full engagement and viability of the health care safety net in the county are essential for improving the health status of the people of the County of Kern. To further this imperative, it is necessary that the Kern Medical Center, while continuing as a designated public hospital and maintaining its mission, is provided with an organizational and operational structure that facilitates and improves its ability to function with flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation to promote a patient-centric system of care delivery featuring community-based care. This can best be accomplished by allowing the operation of the Kern Medical Center, along with other health-related resources, under a new hospital authority that is able to pursue efforts towards a delivery system that embraces population health management strategies, is effectively positioned for health plan-provider alignment, and maximizes opportunities for employees and enhancement of staff morale.
(5) This chapter is necessary to allow the formation of a new political subdivision, a public hospital authority, for the purposes described above.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Kern Medical Center, an acute care hospital currently operated as a constituent department of the County of Kern, is a designated public hospital, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 14166.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and a critical component of the state's health care safety net.
(2) A county is authorized under existing law to integrate its county hospital services with those of other hospitals into a system of community service that offers free choice of hospitals to those requiring hospital care, with the objective of eliminating discrimination or segregation based on economic disability, so that the county hospital and other hospitals in the community share in providing services to paying patients and to those who qualify for care in public medical care programs. However, in a new era of health care delivery, it is necessary to pursue approaches that transition beyond acute care-centric orientations.
(3) The ongoing evolution of the health care environment requires public entities providing or arranging health care services to pursue innovative health care delivery models that proactively improve the quality of patient care services and patient experience, efficiently and effectively increase access to needed health care services across the care continuum, provide services in a patient-centered manner, and moderate the rate of growth of health care expenditures.
(4) The board of supervisors of the County of Kern has determined that providing access to affordable, high-quality health care services, and ensuring the full engagement and viability of the health care safety net in the county are essential for improving the health status of the people of the County of Kern. To further this imperative, it is necessary that the Kern Medical Center, while continuing as a designated public hospital and maintaining its mission, is provided with an organizational and operational structure that facilitates and improves its ability to function with flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation to promote a patient-centric system of care delivery featuring community-based care. This can best be accomplished by allowing the operation of the Kern Medical Center, along with other health-related resources, under a new hospital authority that is able to pursue efforts towards a delivery system that embraces population health management strategies, is effectively positioned for health plan-provider alignment, and maximizes opportunities for employees and enhancement of staff morale.
(5) This chapter is necessary to allow the formation of a new political subdivision, a public hospital authority, for the purposes described above.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Authority" means the Kern Hospital System Authority established pursuant to this chapter.
(b) "Board of supervisors" means the board of supervisors of the County of Kern.
(c) "Board of governors" means the governing body of the authority.
(d) "County" means the County of Kern.
(e) "Enabling ordinance" means the county ordinance enacted by the board of supervisors pursuant to this chapter to establish the authority, as it may be amended from time to time.
(f) "Legacy employees" means employees of the county who retired from the medical center prior to the date of transfer of control of the medical center, employees of the county who are initially transferred to the authority on the date of transfer of control of the medical center, and employees first hired by or retired from the authority during the 24-month period following the date of transfer of control of the medical center.
(g) "Medical center" means the assets and liabilities comprising the Kern Medical Center, including, without limitation, a licensed acute care hospital and related public health care programs, facilities, care organizations, physician practice plans and delivery systems, which may be hospital-based or nonhospital-based, as specified by the board of supervisors or the authority now or in the future, as the case may be, depending on which entity controls the medical center.
(h) "New employees" means employees first hired by the authority after the 24-month period following the date of transfer of control of the medical center.
(i) "Transfer of control of the medical center" means the transfer by the county to the authority of the maintenance, operation, management, and personnel of the medical center, whether by lease, transfer of ownership, or other means, as provided by, and subject to, any conditions and limitations specified by the board of supervisors in the enabling ordinance.
(a) "Authority" means the Kern Hospital System Authority established pursuant to this chapter.
(b) "Board of supervisors" means the board of supervisors of the County of Kern.
(c) "Board of governors" means the governing body of the authority.
(d) "County" means the County of Kern.
(e) "Enabling ordinance" means the county ordinance enacted by the board of supervisors pursuant to this chapter to establish the authority, as it may be amended from time to time.
(f) "Legacy employees" means employees of the county who retired from the medical center prior to the date of transfer of control of the medical center, employees of the county who are initially transferred to the authority on the date of transfer of control of the medical center, and employees first hired by or retired from the authority during the 24-month period following the date of transfer of control of the medical center.
(g) "Medical center" means the assets and liabilities comprising the Kern Medical Center, including, without limitation, a licensed acute care hospital and related public health care programs, facilities, care organizations, physician practice plans and delivery systems, which may be hospital-based or nonhospital-based, as specified by the board of supervisors or the authority now or in the future, as the case may be, depending on which entity controls the medical center.
(h) "New employees" means employees first hired by the authority after the 24-month period following the date of transfer of control of the medical center.
(i) "Transfer of control of the medical center" means the transfer by the county to the authority of the maintenance, operation, management, and personnel of the medical center, whether by lease, transfer of ownership, or other means, as provided by, and subject to, any conditions and limitations specified by the board of supervisors in the enabling ordinance.
