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DPH says EPIC rollout on schedule; union urges faster IT hiring and procurement support
Summary
DPH acting CIO outlined a phased EPIC EHR implementation targeting an August 3, 2019 initial go-live and warned of remaining contract and device-integration risks; IUPTE Local 21 urged the commission to address understaffing in the IT procurement team, citing workload increases and employee injuries.
The Department of Public Health told the Health Commission that the department is in Phase 2 of a multi-wave EPIC electronic health record implementation and remains on schedule for an August 3, 2019 go-live for the initial wave that includes Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the Behavioral Health Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and selected primary and specialty care sites.
Acting CIO Winona Mandelovich outlined five implementation phases: planning/onboarding, build and staff certification, frontline engagement and build completion, integrated testing, and technical dress rehearsal culminating in a command center for go-live. DPH reported hiring 15 certified EPIC staff, completing 50 of an estimated 85 third-party contracts needed for full functionality, and preparing training for roughly 9,200 end users. Mandelovich and other DPH presenters said remaining risks include third-party contract completion, connectivity and device rollouts, 125 interfaces to test, and completing over 21,000 content build configurations inside EPIC.
Commissioners asked for a dashboard or stoplight tracker; the acting CIO described most items as green to yellow and said DPH is hiring additional staff and plans to recruit a chief security officer to strengthen cybersecurity oversight for third-party contractors. Commissioners singled out cybersecurity and access control for third parties as priorities for monitoring.
During general public comment, Evan McLaughlin of IUPTE Local 21 told commissioners the DPH IT procurement team is severely understaffed. McLaughlin said the team saw a roughly 200% increase in FSP work and a 440% increase in the minimum time required for each data-entry request while team size declined; he described increased errors, stress, sick leave and a workplace injury. He urged the commission to press DPH and Human Resources to fill critical vacancies to avoid implementation delays or safety issues.
DPH staff responded that training, governance and additional hiring are underway and that the department will return with a fuller IT update in September that includes a dashboard; commissioners asked staff to monitor staffing levels, contract completion and cybersecurity commitments from vendors.
