The Region - News from June 24, 1987

The last impediment to a hotly disputed plan to shift the salaries of incoming interns from the county payroll to the payroll of the USC School of Medicine was removed when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the four-year pilot program was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable. Originally proposed by the county Board of Supervisors as a permanent program, the transfer plan was redesignated as experimental after the Joint Council of Interns and Residents sued the county, arguing that in approving the plan, board members violated a 1978 City Charter amendment that required proof of cost effectiveness. As a pilot program, however, board members now have four years to determine if the payroll shift is justified. In backing the program, the majority of board members said they believe it could save as much as $10 million a year and improve accountability for health services.