San Diego’s largest public healthcare district is in financial trouble. Last year, the medical provider for uninsured and other low-income patients faced a $165 million shortfall.
Now the district is aiming for a turnaround. Our North County reporter Tigist Layne reports that executives are embarking on a combination of streamlining and revenue growth that Palomar CEO Diane Hansen says will improve the district’s financial situation by $150 million.
“If you looked at where we landed over the last couple of years, those losses are not sustainable,” Hansen told Layne. “Our goal through this turnaround effort was to figure out how we can improve.”
Layne broke the news two years ago that Palomar’s financial health was worsening. Now she has details on the district’s rebound effort.
On the efficiency side, the district aims to streamline staffing and overtime, improve scheduling of medical procedures and possibly leverage parts of its real estate portfolio.
To generate revenue, the district could increase the share of privately insured patients it treats or partner with another healthcare organization.
“We are trying to be very creative,” Hansen said.
Sacramento Report: Dial It Back
Add an unexpected group to the list of Californians opposed to President Donald Trump’s indiscriminate roundups of undocumented immigrants: Republican lawmakers.
Last month, six Republican state legislators sent a letter to Trump urging him to dial back the aggressive workplace raids that have terrorized immigrant communities and sown confusion among farmers and business owners.
“We urge you to direct ICE and DHS to focus their enforcement operations on criminal immigrants and, when possible, avoid the kinds of sweeping raids that instill fear and disrupt the workplace,” the lawmakers wrote.
They counseled the president instead to focus deportation efforts on violent criminals and work with Congress to overhaul and modernize the nation’s immigration system.
Our Deborah Sullivan recently caught up with one of the letter’s signatories, state Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, who represents Santa Clarita. Sullivan asked what prompted the lawmakers to voice their disagreement – however slight – with Trump.
Valladares said she and other lawmakers hope Trump will establish a work authorization program that enables undocumented immigrants to work in sectors such as agriculture and food service without fear of deportation.
Also in the Report: The San Diego lawyer turned author whose latest mystery novel weaves immigration themes into a murder whodunnit.
Read the Sacramento Report here.
VOSD Podcast: A Whole Lotta Education News
This has been quite a week for our education reporter Jakob McWhinney.
San Diego Unified is officially banning cell phones. A school board president has decided not to run for a second term. And the biggest news: The Trump administration froze billions of dollars in education grants, which has some local districts scrambling.
This week on the show, McWhinney broke down just how much money is at stake for San Diego County school districts. Hint, it’s a lot.
Meet the Beat: Voice in North County
Join our North County reporter, Tigist Layne on July 24 at the Escondido History Museum at 6 p.m. to talk about the stories she’s watching that impact residents in North County.
Seats are limited. RSVP here.
In Other News
- The Union-Tribune reports San Diego County is considering allowing sheriff’s deputies to retire and collect a pension while simultaneously working and earning a salary for up to five years.
- Chula Vista trash bins sat on curbs last week when Teamsters union members walked off the job in solidarity with garbage haulers in Boston, who are on strike against Republic Services, the waste management company that also serves Chula Vista. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann called a special City Council meeting Monday to respond to the strike. (CBS8)
- The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo, which freezes and preserves genetic material of endangered species, now includes plants. San Diego native Nutall’s scrub oaks are among plants now preserved in the Zoo’s collection of more than 11,500 species. (Axios)
- A coalition of California Democrats in Congress last week introduced legislation that would empower the Environmental Protection Agency to manage water quality in the Tijuana River and expedite solutions to the river’s ongoing sewage crisis. “We’re bringing the full weight and commitment of the federal government to address the Tijuana River pollution crisis,” said Sen. Alex Padilla in a statement.
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch and Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
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I didn’t expect this post to go that hard… but here we are 😏