County Cuts 153 Vacant Health Department Jobs

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday cut 153 positions from the county’s massive health department in a baby step toward next year’s expected deep reductions in costs and medical services for the poor.

Supervisors eliminated 153 now-vacant jobs ranging from data entry clerks to nurses. It was the first cost-cutting done since June, when the department received a $1.5-billion bailout from the federal government that still will leave the county with a $500-million deficit in five years.

By now, supervisors are habitually dissatisfied with the pace and efforts of the health department’s cost-cutting campaign, which began in 1995 after an initial bailout by Washington. And with county auditors warning that the department’s promised cuts may never be realized, Director of Health Services Mark Finucane came in for his usual heated grilling Tuesday, even as he warned supervisors that far more difficult decisions lay ahead.

“The next time is not going to be as painless as this time,” Finucane said.

With deficits projected to begin in late 2002, supervisors have ordered staff to plan for major cuts well in advance, so they do not need to slash haphazardly as crunch time nears.

Part of those plans call for cutting 10% of the department’s jobs over five years. Though the department managed to achieve its reductions this year by cutting the vacant slots, officials are uncertain if next year’s reductions will require layoffs.

But other parts of the plan are even more controversial. By April the department plans to close some public health centers and transfer patients to private clinics. It also will study contracting out medical tasks.

Even with all those cuts, the county needs to find another $239 million by 2004 to balance its books.

Supervisors are wary of Finucane’s track record in cutting costs, since his last effort, launched after the first federal bailout saved the county from bankruptcy, fell $200 million short. And they were open about their skepticism Tuesday.

“I don’t know how you clowns are going to get together and come up with $86 million in . . . savings,” Supervisor Gloria Molina said to Finucane.

Feeding the supervisors’ skepticism was a report from the county auditor-controller questioning whether Finucane’s savings could be achieved because the health department has neither identified specific cuts nor explored whether contracting would save the county money.