Alameda Health System Layoffs Deferred While County Explores Options

This story first appeared on The Oaklandside.

Alameda County’s public hospital system, which includes the region’s main provider of mental health services and clinics serving thousands of low-income residents, has been spared layoffs — for now.

Yesterday, the Alameda Health System and the county agreed to hold off on job cuts scheduled to take effect on March 9.

The plan would have included the closure of mental health programs at Highland Hospital and Fairmont Hospital, AHS’s ambulatory plastic surgery program, and Highland Hospital’s Complex Care Program, which provides care to patients with multiple, chronic illnesses, many of whom are homeless.

Other closures would have included Fairmont Hospital’s Kitchen Retail program, which provides meals to staff and visitors, and Highland Hospital’s Tele-sitter program, which helps AHS staff remotely monitor patients’ wellbeing while they’re hospitalized.

The temporary pause buys the hospital system and the county time to try and figure out alternatives to layoffs, with the goal of minimizing impacts on health care services.

Supervisors Nate Miley and Nikki Fortunato Bas will lead the effort through an ad hoc committee of the supervisors, working with AHS, labor representatives, and other stakeholders.

“I’m greatly encouraged by the feedback we’ve received from the supervisors and the partnership we’ve experienced with the county,” said AHS CEO James Jackson at yesterday’s meeting.

“Alameda County patients and their families deserve a healthcare system that’s clean, safe, and well-staffed, a place where they can get the care they need and won’t go hungry when they visit,” Maria Betancourt, a specialist clerk at John George and the current AHS Chapter President for SEIU 1021 said in a statement.

“It has been a long fight to get to this point, but this is a great step for our members and for healthcare in Alameda County. As the federal cuts approach, we will work with the Board and others to find every avenue to protect public healthcare and preserve jobs against these attacks.”

Jackson said the AHS trustees, the board that directly governs the hospital system, will meet today to further discuss delaying the layoffs and the plan to find savings.

Federal health care cuts to blame

The Alameda Health System is facing a massive drop in revenues because of H.R. 1, the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the Republican-controlled Congress last year.

That bill massively reduced funding for Medicaid, the insurance program that public hospitals like AHS heavily rely on. It imposed other cuts and requirements that amount to an unprecedented $1 trillion reduction in health care spending nationwide by the federal government.

“We should all keep in mind that the reason we’re all here is largely, exclusively because of H.R. 1,” Supervisor David Haubert said yesterday.

Anticipating a $30 million drop in revenue this year and a $100 million budget hole in 2027, AHS leaders confirmed in December that they were looking at eliminating as many as 372 positions, including nurses, therapists, doctors, housekeeping staff, and other roles.

In January, AHS published a plan scaling back the layoffs to about 188 positions. Hospital staff said at the time that even this level of cuts would significantly harm their ability to care for patients.

Exploring options to avoid staff reductions

On Feb. 25, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors signaled they were willing to work with AHS on solutions.

At yesterday’s meeting, the supervisors unanimously voted to identify alternative, non-patient-facing positions that could be cut to address the system’s budget shortfall.

Under the new plan, which wasn’t described in much detail, the county, county auditor, and AHS will examine behavioral health contract payments that could be reduced.

Currently, the county and AHS have dozens of contracts with nonprofits to provide behavioral health services. They also want to scrutinize AHS’s finances and potentially make adjustments to how AHS can borrow money from the county.

And county leaders said they will look into alternative service models with respect to the system’s intensive outpatient program, all with an eye toward saving money and avoiding staff layoffs. The supervisors will hold another meeting on March 17 to report back.