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Agenda Item
ASR
Control 22-000540 |
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MEETING DATE: |
07/19/22 |
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legal entity taking action: |
Board of Supervisors |
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board of supervisors
district(s): |
All Districts |
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SUBMITTING
Agency/Department: |
Health Care Agency
(Approved) |
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Department contact
person(s): |
Tammi McConnell (714) 834-2791 |
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Clayton Chau (714) 834-2830 |
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Subject: Extra Help Working Retiree
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ceo CONCUR |
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Clerk of the Board |
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Concur |
No Legal Objection |
Discussion |
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3 Votes Board Majority |
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Budgeted: Yes |
Current Year Cost:
$48,346 |
Annual Cost:
N/A |
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Staffing Impact: |
No |
# of Positions:
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Sole Source:
N/A |
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Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A
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Prior Board Action: N/A
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RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Approve the appointment of David Johnson as an Extra Help Working Retiree Emergency Medical Services Coordinator to perform the role of Facilities Coordinator pursuant to Section 7522.56 (f) of the Public Employee’s Pension Reform Act of 2013.
SUMMARY:
Hiring an Extra Help Working Retiree position will provide critical expertise, finalization of hospital designations and redesignations pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 1798.100 to ensure facilities are in compliance with Emergency Medical Services policies and procedures approved by the Emergency Medical Services Medical Director.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Mr. Johnson served as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Quality Assurance Coordinator from 1997 to 2003 and the EMS Facilities Coordinator from August 2016 through April 2022, when he retired from the County. The Facilities Coordinator conducts the designation and redesignation of Emergency Receiving Centers (ERCs) and Specialty Centers (Cardiovascular, Stroke, Trauma, Base Hospitals and Comprehensive Children’s Emergency Receiving Centers) ensuring adherence to state and Orange County EMS (OCEMS) policies and procedures and investigates problems, complaints and inquiries related to hospitals. An EMS agency in California is required to plan, implement and evaluate the EMS system which includes all functions of the Facilities Coordinator.
During the COVID-19 pandemic the EMS staff was deployed to the Health Care Agency's (HCA) operations center for over a year. This significantly delayed the redesignation of ERC and specialty receiving centers. Through his experience and expertise Mr. Johnson was able to expedite the redesignation of many facilities prior to his retirement, however, several remain in process. Specifically, four ERC and three Cardiovascular Receiving Centers redesignations need to be completed. Additionally, 16 conditional redesignations need to be reevaluated and approved for full designation.
Each individual designation can take upwards of 20 hours of staff time. This includes document review, follow up with the facility, researching complaints filed with the California Department of Public Health, writing the recommendation and findings, presenting to the various committees for final approval and drafting final written correspondence. One facility could have up to five designations.
HCA/EMS currently has multiple vacancies, and the remaining staff are unable to absorb any additional duties. A recruitment to replace Mr. Johnson is being opened and continued assistance from Mr. Johnson would help ensure a smooth transition to the new Facilities Coordinator. Leaving a vacancy until EMS can find a replacement for Mr. Johnson will not only lead to the inability to finalize the redesignation process (ensuring that Orange County hospitals are in compliance with state and local regulations, policies and procedures), it also poses a threat to public health and safety by limiting EMS’s ability to investigate and take appropriate action in response to complaints and/or problems received by OCEMS against facilities.
Because Mr. Johnson retired from his position less than 180 days ago, his appointment to the Extra Help EMS Coordinator position requires your Honorable Board of Supervisors (Board) approval in order to comply with the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act 2013. Government Code Section 7522.56(f), states, in relevant part:
"A retired person shall not be eligible to be employed pursuant to this section for a period of 180 days following the date of retirement unless he or she meets one of the following conditions:
The employer certifies the nature of the employment and that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed position before 180 days has passed and the appointment has been approved by the governing body of the employer in a public meeting. The appointment may not be placed on a consent calendar."
Upon the Board approval of this appointment, Mr. Johnson's term of employment will be governed by the County's Working Retiree Reemployment Policy that limits assignments to no more than 960 hours per fiscal year at an hourly rate not to exceed 80 percent of the hourly rate that the employee earned at the time of retirement, or Step 1 of the salary range if 80 percent is less than Step 1 unless, in an exceptional circumstance, a higher rate is approved by the County Executive Office. Mr. Johnson retired from HCA/EMS as an EMS Coordinator with an hourly rate of $50.36. HCA/EMS believes this is an exceptional circumstance and requests Board approval to appoint Mr. Johnson at the advanced step 12 rate of $50.36 for the EMS Coordinator A3-66 pay grade.
HCA requests the Board's approval of the appointment of Mr. Johnson as mentioned in the Recommended Action.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Appropriations for the limited use of this Extra Help Retiree position are included in the Budget Control 042 FY 2022-23 Budget.
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment A - Health & Safety Code Section 1798.100
Attachment B - Government Code Section 7522.56(f)
Attachment C - County's Working Retiree Reemployment Policy