REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 28, 2020
FROM
GARY McBRIDE, Chief Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
SUBJECT
Title
Side Letter Agreement with the California Nurses Association
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve the proposed Side Letter Agreement between the County of San Bernardino and the California Nurses Association representing employees in the Nurses Unit.
(Presenter: Bob Windle, County Labor Relations Chief, 387-3101)
End
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Ensure Development of a Well-Planned, Balanced, and Sustainable County.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this side letter agreement will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The proposed side letter agreement with California Nurses Association (CNA) includes an extra shift incentive for eligible registered nurses, which includes a differential of $7.50 per hour for all hours worked during the extra shifts at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) to care for COVID-19 patients. If approved, the incentive will be effective for the period of August 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The total estimated one-time cost associated with the approval of the side letter agreement is approximately $128,000 for 2020-21, which will be funded by State Medi-Cal, Federal Medicare, private insurances, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and other departmental revenue. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in ARMC’s 2020-21 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ARMC is required to secure sufficient nurses to meet state mandated nurse to patient ratios. Pursuant to those state mandated ratios, caring for COVID-19 patients requires ARMC to maintain a lower nurse to patient ratio, which increases the need for nurses to fill shifts to care for COVID-19 patients. This increased demand for nurses had been exacerbated as a result of nurses being exposed to COVID-19, which often requires taking nurses off schedule for 10 days or more. Additionally, there are many nurses with pre-existing health conditions that are not available to ARMC as they have taken a leave of absence as recommended by their physicians.
As a result, the County has identified a need to fill shifts caused by the surge of COVID-19 patients at ARMC. In an effort to reduce utilization of and reliance on contract and temporary staffing to fill these shifts, the County developed a proposal to incentivize eligible registered nurses to work extra shifts to care for COVID-19 patients at ARMC by providing an extra $7.50/hour while working such extra shift, effective August 1, 2020. The County and the CNA, which represents the Nurses Unit and Per Diem Nurses Unit, have met and conferred and agreed to the proposed extra shift incentive, which will sunset on December 31, 2020 unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties.
If approved, this extra shift incentive will be a useful staffing tool to assist covering shifts caused by absences and/or vacancies, or to meet fluctuating census/workload needs related to COVID-19.
PROCUREMENT
N/A.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 23, 2020; Labor Relations (Bob Windle, County Labor Relations Chief, 387-3101) on July 23, 2020; Finance (Jessica Trillo, Administrative Analyst, 387-4222 and Yael Verduzco, Administrative Analyst, 387-5285) on July 24, 2020; County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on July 24, 2020.