Superior Court Case Number: BCV-22-101782-JEB
Kern Medical workers can now fact-find and further advocate for transparency of public funds for the only Level II Trauma Center between Fresno and Grapevine.
Bakersfield, Calif. – Healthcare workers at Kern Medical Center (KMC), represented by Service Employees International Union, Local 521, claim victory for taxpayers and the indigent population after the Kern County Superior Court sides with workers during a hearing on Tuesday, October 11th. The Court has allowed the Union’s lawsuit to proceed against the Kern County Hospital Authority (KCHA) and a closely related private entity called the Kern Medical Surgery Center, LLC (LLC).
The lawsuit, filed July 18, 2022, alleges that the public has a right to information about the operation of the LLC, which KCHA completely controls and has created with taxpayer funding. The LLC runs expensive clinics that provide services, which are out of reach of the KCHA’s core mission and purpose, to serve Kern County’s economically disadvantaged patients. KCHA has made multiple excuses to avoid public disclosure of details about the LLC’s operations, but the Union believes public documents suggest that the LLC is neither profitable nor helpful to the most economically vulnerable medical patients that KCHA has a duty to serve.
The public healthcare union intends to prove that Kern Medical management, which runs both KCHA and the LLC, violated the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act. These laws require public agencies (like KCHA), and any private entities they use to conduct their operations (like the LLC), to deliberate in public and disclose how they spend tax money. Kern Medical management maintains that the public does not have the right to access records regarding its operation of the LLC. The Union disagrees with Kern County management and intends to shine a light on how exactly this LLC uses taxpayer money to operate boutique clinics in Bakersfield. Today, the Court has allowed the Union to move forward with its case.
The Court also allowed the Union to gather evidence about the reasonableness of Kern Medical management’s decision to create and maintain this LLC at an apparent financial loss to the taxpayer and with no apparent benefit to the economically underprivileged population that KCHA is supposed to serve. In fact, Union members have witnessed how Kern Medical management’s LLC hurts workers and patients.
The healthcare workers look forward to ensuring that the local healthcare system can continue to provide the best possible healthcare as they advocate for smart decisions using public funds for the medically underserved, the underinsured, and the uninsured population in Kern County.
The following remarks can be attributed to the Lead Clinical Nurse at Kern Medical and SEIU Local 521 Member George Pfister:
“Kern Medical management represented to workers that it bought a new Holmium laser machine, which helps patients remove tissue that blocks urine flow through the prostate. Management told workers that we could have received a discount for returning the older equipment but instead, Management thought it would be better for our current laser machine to be at the surgery center. By having the Holmium laser machine at the Kern Medical Surgery Center they will be able to do a lot more of our surgical cases over there. Not having this machine at Kern Medical Center will make it more difficult for workers to do their jobs. Today’s court decision allows our union to get to the bottom of allegations like this and to continue to keep Kern Medical focused on providing the best care to medically underserved patients in Kern County.”
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