BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT - A. YAMAMOTO

Approve authorization for the Behavioral Health Department to Pay the County Share of CalPERS Contribution for a Temporary MH Nurse.

SBC FILE NUMBER: 810

The Behavioral Health Department is experiencing difficulty in filling a difficult to recruit and retain position of Mental Health Nurse. The BH department has experienced repeated departures of  MH nurses as those staff have acquired positions with other health care providers that pay more and offer multiple other attractive benefits. The effects of the Affordable Care Act and the increased levels of private and public insurance and other health care reimbursement coverage that include benefits for Behavioral Health Care Services has created competition among health care providers for nurses and other professional care provider staff, creating a market environment that the county has been unable to compete with. The BH department’s total of 2 FTE MH Nurse position allocations is vacant and these are key positions required to continue to provide our medication service delivery operations for the community. We are aware of expressed interest from a former county BH, MH nurse who desires to augment her current other employment and to provide us much needed assistance on a temporary basis for a few days each week as a patch fill-in during our time of nursing shortage.

This individual, however, is still an active enrollee in the CalPERS system and such this arrangement would require that the BH department contribute the department’s required county share of CalPERS for the hours that this individual would work for the department. In accordance with County Personnel Rules taking this action requires Board approval. This proposed action has also been discussed, reviewed and approved by County HR as feasible.

This action would be funded with available funds for the BH departments approved county department budget and involves no County General Fund expenditure.      

Approve payment from the Behavioral Health Departments budgeted funds for the County’s share of CalPERS contributions as required for active CalPERS members and commensurate to the hours a former County employee will work as a temporary MH Nurse for the County Behavioral Health Department.