Legislature approves creation of KMC hospital authority

Aug. 21--A bill that would create a public hospital authority to manage Kern Medical Center has passed both houses of the California Legislature and is on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk for final approval.

The Assembly gave the bill, AB 2546, its final approval Thursday morning.

In June the bill was stripped of a controversial provision that would have merged Kern Medical Center with Kern Health Systems, a public agency that manages Medi-Cal insurance benefits to around 150,000 Kern County residents.

Hospitals and insurers that compete with KMC and KHS rallied opposition to the merger before a Senate committee.

County officials swore that KHS patients would be able to continue to use non-KMC hospitals and doctors. But, facing an uphill fight, they agreed to let the merger language slide.

The sanitized bill shot through the Senate and Assembly committee process and flew through floor votes in the two chambers.

If Brown signs the legislation, which simply authorizes Kern County supervisors to create a hospital authority, the heavy lifting of implementation would begin at the county level.

Kern Medical Center CEO Russell Judd said they expect Brown to sign the bill.

"We have to now write the ordinance that enacts the legislation. That is immense," he said.

The legislation is extremely detailed and the county must craft the local ordinance carefully to make sure it complies with the new state law.

"We've now got to go through the entire bill," Judd said. "We're hoping, maybe by next spring, to have something to present to the board (of supervisors) for their enactment."

And, while the merger would have created a powerful relationship between a health care provider and a large pool of insured patients, he said the hospital authority itself will provide clear benefits for KMC, which has struggled financially for decades.

Under the authority, KMC would no longer need to operate under civil service rules that control county hiring and firing and can slow the employment process down by months. County procurement limitations would also be lifted from the hospital.

All that, Judd said, would allow KMC to operate more competitively.

"The authority will allow Kern Medical Center to navigate the complex waters of health care after the Affordable Care Act in the most nimble way possible," Judd said.

Judd thanked Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D- Bakersfield, for authoring the bill and state Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, for carrying the bill through the California Senate.

He also thanked the Service Employees International Union, Local 521, for working with the county to draft and support AB 2546.

Salas, in a press release, said the hospital was a vital provider of care and emergency services for 650,000 area residents.

"Today we take a step to secure the future of this hospital and see that it will be able to continue serving the greater need of our residents," he wrote in the release.

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