Bill Text: CA AB1350 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Kern County Hospital Authority.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 790, Statutes of 2015. [AB1350 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1350-Introduced.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 1350	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Salas

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 101852 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to the health authorities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1350, as introduced, Salas. Kern County Hospital Authority.
   The Kern County Hospital Authority Act authorizes the board of
supervisors of the County of Kern to, among other things, establish,
by ordinance, the Kern County Hospital Authority to manage,
administer, and control the Kern Medical Center and for the operation
of additional programs, clinics and other facilities, care
organizations, physician practice plans, and delivery systems that
may be affiliated or consolidated with the medical center. The act
makes related findings and declarations.
   This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to those
findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 101852 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   101852.  (a) This chapter shall be  known  
known,  and may be  cited  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)  Counties are   A county is  
 authorized under  current   existing 
law to integrate  their   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 public
hospital authority for the purposes described above.