County begins administrative alignment of health clinics under Health Care Services; interim CEO named

San Joaquin County officials outlined administrative alignment steps that move the county’s health clinics under the broader Health Care Services Agency for centralized HR, IT, procurement and budget oversight.

Genevieve Valentine told the Health Care Services Review Project Committee that the Board of Supervisors approved alignment under a co-applicant agreement in April, and staff have since conducted deep reviews of human resources, locum and employment contracts, IT consolidation, leases, facilities and procurement practices to remove duplication across divisions.

“Matt Garber has been approved by the health clinics board to be the interim CEO as we are actively recruiting,” Valentine said. She and others described daily county staffing support at the clinics to provide more consistent leadership following an unplanned leadership departure.

Valentine said the alignment effort will centralize evaluations and HR processes across public health, clinics and behavioral health where appropriate, and that the work is being used as a broader opportunity to identify duplicative efforts and improve agency-wide cost effectiveness. Clinic and county leaders said staff from various agency offices have been present at clinic sites regularly to implement changes and to stabilize operations.

Committee members praised the coordination and noted ongoing challenges related to Medicaid coverage changes and staffing shortages; no formal action was taken on the presentation.