Employment | Benefits | Programs & Services

Employment

A. What can employees do to help make this transfer successful?

It's easy - just come to work on June 30, 2010. We simply need all of you to continue to provide the high level of quality care you currently provide at Marin General Hospital.

B. Will there be any layoffs once the District has assumed ownership? What are guarantees for post-transition year 1 and 2?

After the transfer, Marin General Hospital plans to continue operating the hospital on the same basis and with the same range of services as Sutter Health has offered. As a result, there are no planned layoffs other then noted in items C and D below. Our goal is to grow and preserve jobs in the future.

C. Will the District outsource or contract for services currently provided by Marin General Hospital employees?

The Settlement and Transfer Agreements require the District to establish Information Technology (IT) and Business Office systems prior to transfer of the hospital to replace those services provided to the hospital by Sutter Health. As a result, we will need to establish these two departments on an outsourced basis prior to transfer.

Employees in these two departments will have the option of applying for positions with the outsourcing organization. On the transfer date, those employees in IT and business office systems who have not exercised this option, and who remain employed by Marin General Hospital, will be retained only to cover transitional issues and their positions will be eliminated soon after the transfer.

D. Are we going to lose the local IT support staff in the bunker and in Sacramento?

We have contracted with ACS to run the IT department and Business Office following the installation and launch of the new system. Any employee that presently works onsite at Marin General Hospital, or in the Business Office in Terra Linda, may apply for positions that ACS will need to staff after the transfer date. ACS will interview and screen all applicants through ACS's normal hiring process, and will make offers to those applicants ACS desires to hire. ACS will collaborate with the hires on total compensation and benefits consistent with the stipulations in the transfer agreement.

ACS will maintain on-site IT staff in the bunker, and will have a remote service center providing additional support, similar to what you may be used to receiving from Sutter Health Corporate in Sacramento. ACS has a long track record of successfully installing and supporting healthcare systems nationwide.

E. Will employees be able to keep their seniority and work assignments?

The Marin Healthcare District will honor seniority and work assignments that exist on the date of transfer. Subject to any collective bargaining agreement obligations, the District reserves the right to modify work assignments following the transfer.

F. Will the current collective bargaining agreements be honored by the Marin Healthcare District and will the District adhere to the provisions that are in those agreements?

Only managers, technicians or allied health professionals (excluding RNs and LVNs) are required to declare their intention to work for Marin General Hospital under section 4.8 of the Transfer Agreement.

1. Manager must give nine (9) months notice of his or her intention to resign.
    
2. Technicians or Allied Health Professionals (excluding RNs and LVNs) must give ninety (90) days notice of his or her intention to resign.

   Employees in these two groups (i and ii) must give the appropriate notice called for above. Sutter will be prohibited from hiring any manager, technician, or allied health professional (excluding RNs and LVNs) who has not given proper notice, for a period of 6-months following the transfer date.

3. Non-management employees or employees who are not Technicians or Allied Health Professionals are not required to give notice.
    

H. Will non-management Staff be expected to declare intentions to continue working for the Hospital?

No.

I. Managers need to give advance notice of intent to stay or leave. What security agreement is the District able to provide to commit to job security for those willing to stay?

Managers who do not give advance notice of intent to leave will retain their positions upon transfer. Managers' future with Marin General Hospital will be dependent on their performance on a go-forward basis.

J. Will the Marin General Hospital be able to make the first payroll after the transfer date of June 29, 2010?

Yes, the District and Sutter Health focused on this need when designing the specifics on the transfer of operations under the 2006 Transfer and Settlement Agreements. Marin General Hospital will be able to cover all of its operating costs, including payroll, upon the transfer.

Marin General Hospital has historically been very profitable and we project that this will continue after the Transfer Date. Under local control, all cash generated by Marin General Hospital will be left in the organization to pay for operating expenses and much needed improvements, instead of being subject to distribution within a multi-hospital system. It should be noted that Sutter Health is contractually committed to ensuring payroll is current as of the Transfer Date and is contractually obligated to leave Marin General Hospital with a minimum of $5 million in operating cash on the Transfer Date.

As an added precaution, the Marin Healthcare District intends to arrange a Working Capital Line of Credit with a local bank to provide alternative funding in the event that it is needed.

Benefits

A. The transfer documents refer to "seamless" integration and "mirror" of existing structure, policies, and procedures. What do these terms mean and how will staff be affected?

Marin General Hospital's intent is to provide comparable benefits after the transfer. Where Marin General Hospital employees currently participate in Sutter Health system-wide benefit plans, Marin General Hospital plans to create "mirror" image plans that are substantially similar to those that were offered by Sutter Health prior to the transfer. For example, Marin General Hospital will establish a new defined benefit pension plan that is substantially similar to the defined benefit pension plan currently offered to Hospital employees by Sutter Health. Hospital employees will retain any vested benefits that they have accrued under the Sutter Health defined benefit pension plan. Similarly, Marin General Hospital will, following the transfer, continue to offer a 403(b) plan, that is substantially similar to the one offered by Sutter Health.

Some of the benefit plans currently provided to Hospital employees are maintained directly by the Marin General Hospital Corporation and these will simply be continued. However, as is currently the case, Marin General Hospital will retain the right to change, alter, or terminate benefit arrangements in the future, subject to any bargaining obligations with labor organizations.

Programs and Services

A. When will the District be able to discuss the long-range strategic plan with Hospital staff?

The Hospital will begin sharing its vision for the future during the first year following the transfer in 2010. Existing strategic planning reports from KSA are available here.

B. What programs and services will continue to be offered and what services will be discontinued? What services or specialties do you intend to close down at Marin General Hospital?

We have no intentions under present circumstances to reduce any health services or specialties at Marin General Hospital. In fact, we have a contract with the County to maintain all the healthcare services currently provided at the Hospital.

The only departments that we anticipate any changes in at the time of transfer are the IT and Business Office. The Settlement and Transfer Agreements require us to stand up a completely new IT system and Business Office for Marin General Hospital on the Transfer Date. We had to outsource these functions in order to comply with the agreements. Our vendor, ACS, will provide these services for Marin General Hospital much as Sutter Health has in the past. There will be IT people onsite at Marin General Hospital, a Business office in Marin, and an offsite support and data center much like Sutter Health provides from Sacramento now.

Employees working in these two departments now will have the option of applying to work for ACS, and we would encourage them to do so.

C. Is the District really going to be able to get a new Information Technology (IT) system up and running in time for the transfer?

The District signed a contract with one of the nation's largest IT providers, ACS, and they are already onsite making preparations to begin the installation. Because of their size and experience in the healthcare field, ACS has the ability to scale itself up for a project like this. ACS has put together an implementation schedule that fits the time frame for the transfer, will use industry best practices, and pre-configuration of certain applications, to ensure the time frames are met.

This new IT system will be fully integrated including patient care, financial, and quality data, which has been designed to work together, unlike many of the existing healthcare information systems that have been patched together over time. Marin General Hospital employees and medical staff will receive training on the new system in advance of the transfer. Once this state-of-the-art system is in place, we will have a solid foundation on which to add electronic medical records following the transfer.

D. With greater competition for private pay business, will Marin General Hospital become the "County Hospital" for Medi-Cal and indigent care?

With the continued support of the physicians and employees, we believe Marin General Hospital will continue to attract commercially insured patients while continuing to serve all residents of the county.

E. How do you make a hospital a Magnet nursing hospital?

You start by making it easier for nurses to do their jobs. We have to create an atmosphere of mutual respect between nurses, doctors, and other care providers. It involves creating an environment where people want to work, are supported and opinions are valued.

F. There are rumors that Marin General Hospital may partner in some way with another hospital system. How would that occur and when?

While the District has no plans to sell or lease Marin General Hospital, it may seek strategic alliances that will benefit the Hospital and its patients in the future. Specific alliances will be identified in the Hospital's strategic plan. No current contractual affiliations are being contemplated.

Still have questions? Contact us at: info@marinhealthcare.org