REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
December 17, 2019
FROM
TRUDY RAYMUNDO, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT
Title
Employment Contract for the Department of Public Health Laboratory
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve employment contract with Linda Ward, Public Health Laboratory Director, total annual cost of $201,147 ($134,098 Salary, $67,049 Benefits), for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
(Presenter: Trudy Raymundo, Director, 387-9146)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total cost of the employment contract is estimated to be $201,147. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the 2019-20 Department of Public Health (DPH) adopted budget and will be included in the 2020-21 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Per California Code of Regulations 22 CCR §64817, DPH is required to designate a Laboratory Director for each laboratory facility. By Federal law, all hospital and public health laboratories have the same requirements for lab directors: a doctoral level degree, laboratory work experience, and board certification. Additionally, California is the only state that also requires Laboratory Directors to also be certified Public Health Microbiologists. This limits the number of otherwise qualified applicants that may apply from out of state.
Though the department has conducted continuous recruitments since February 2018, there have been no qualified applicants. Due to the critical nature of this position and the requirement for a designated Laboratory Director, DPH is recommending an employment contract with Linda Ward with a salary of $64.59 per hour. Ms. Ward is currently filling this position on a part-time basis as a returning retiree. She has agreed to suspend her retirement and return to this position on a full-time contract basis. Ms. Ward previously served as the Program Manager of the Public Health Laboratory for 17 years. Her knowledge, expertise, and experience is critical in managing the Public Health Laboratory.
The recommended employment contract will be effective January 1, 2020 and remain in effect until December 31, 2020, but may be terminated earlier pending successful recruitment and transition to a new Public Health Laboratory Director. The contract may be terminated by either party without cause upon a 30-day written notice to the other party.
On January 20, 2018, the Public Health Program Manager Laboratory position became vacant. Human Resources opened a continuous recruitment for the Public Health Program Manager Laboratory Position on February 3, 2018, and has continued recruitment efforts, with no success. On June 26, 2019, the recruitment was revised to include the new classification of Public Health Laboratory Director with an increase in salary. Despite this, the recruitment failed to return any qualified applicants and on September 12, 2019, the recruitment was again revised and re-opened as a contract position with higher salary, increase in the medical premium subsidy and schedule flexibility. Recruitment will remain open continuously until a qualified candidate is hired.
PROCUREMENT
On January 23, 2018 (Item No. 32), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 18-28 with Linda Ward, Program Manager Laboratory, for a total annual cost of $60,257, for the contract period January 23, 2018 through January 5, 2019.
On December 18, 2018 (Item No. 39), the Board approved an amendment to Contract No. 18-28 with Linda Ward, for extension through December 31, 2019, with no change to the total annual cost of $60, 257.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Resources (Mark DeBoer, Human Resources Division Chief, 387-5564) on November 26, 2019; County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 26, 2019; Human Services Contracts (Jennifer Mulhall-Daudel, Contracts Manager, 388-0241) on December 2, 2019; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on December 2, 2019; and HS Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on December 3, 2019.