In a report to the BOS last Tuesday—much to the dismay of Rollie Katz, Mr Big of Local One and head puppetmaster of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (BOS)—Dr Walker concluded that:

a) Reducing the County Health Care services by $10 million is improbable given the mandatory staffing requirements and County employee sweet heart deals including pay and benefits.

b) Reducing the number of indigent may not be feasible or result in keeping significant resources from getting poured down the drain (see item “a” above).

c) To maintain existing services and meet budgetary “constraints,” an alternative approach ought to be considered.

Ergo: Close the CCRMC inpatient unit and issue RFPs to contract out some non-critical County services. Walker suggested the County hire a Community Based Organization to oversee fulfillment of contracts for non-critical service areas including: detention health, inpatient psychiatric, security, medical records, housekeeping, landscaping, facility maintenance, lab work, and collections.

Oh My. From what we saw from the peanut gallery, Mr Big looked like he had eaten a bad oyster, and several Supes were apoplectic, shaking their heads in disbelief before the presentation was even over!