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Hearing at committee lays out staffing shortfalls, pay gaps and registry reliance in S.F. General radiology
Summary
Technologists, union representatives and hospital managers told supervisors the radiology unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General faces long scheduling backlogs, high registry reliance and pay ladders that make retention difficult; presenters proposed adding pay steps, converting registry/overtime into roughly 17 permanent FTEs, and creating an internal per-diem classification.
The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on April 18 held a lengthy hearing on radiology and ultrasound technician staffing at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital, where staff and union representatives detailed long scheduling backlogs, high registry use and pay-classification issues.
Ron (Public Health human-resources director) told the committee the department has grown from 68 to 92 permanent radiology positions since 2015 and currently has five permanent vacancies; managers said they are hiring to fill those spots. Andrea Turner, who took over as radiology manager eight months earlier, described implementing a staffing grid, cross-training and other operational steps to reduce registry dependence and overtime.
Loretta Johnson, lead CT technologist, presented department data showing large scheduling queues: "there are 396 people waiting to have their CT exams scheduled; for MRI, 332; and for ultrasound, 583," she said. Johnson and other staff said the move into a new hospital building increased capacity (more CT and MRI scanners) without adding a proportional number of permanent technologists, driving heavy registry usage and overtime. Loretta's presentation reported roughly 15.78 FTEs of registry use for calendar-year 2017–18 and a registry spend of nearly $3 million from June 2016–June 2017 tied to the expansion.
Workers and union representatives described a pattern: new hires brought in at higher steps quickly reach the top of a seven-step scale and then leave for better-paying positions at nearby hospitals. Sonographers and technologists testified that pay ladders lack intermediate steps (senior staff noted they have exhausted available steps) and recommended competitive step increases and structural changes. The SEIU representative summarized the union’s proposals on the record: add an extra step to the DIT series, convert registry and overtime hours into approximately 17 permanent FTEs, and create an internal per-diem classification to reduce reliance on outside registry companies.
Department and DHR staff said a pay proposal (5–15% increases targeted to employees with additional modalities) had been on the table, and DHR noted labor-management processes and civil-service rules constrain immediate changes. Committee members pressed for more financial detail; managers noted that Medi-Cal and other reimbursements vary widely and that some imaging reimbursements can be low for the hospital’s payer mix, complicating the accounting for additional FTEs.
After extended testimony from staff and dozens of public commenters, the committee voted to continue the hearing to the call of the chair for further follow-up and analysis.
Key data presented at the hearing — including reported queues (CT 396, MRI 332, ultrasound 583), registry usage (approximately 15.78 FTEs) and the union’s 17-FTE conversion proposal — remain part of the committee record and will shape follow-up budget and classification discussions.
