BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Kern Health Systems, better known as Kern Family Health Care, is partnering with an out-of-state agency, leading employees to fear there may soon be mass layoffs.

The organization’s CEO said changes are coming, but layoff concerns are baseless.

At the Board of Directors meeting Thursday morning, Erica Temple, a KHS employee of 15 years, noted her concerns.

“We were informed just last Friday by the HR team about the request for the proposal was possibly going to be approved,” Temple said to the Board. “To say we all were just shocked by this news is kind of an understatement because we were not aware of any of this plan being in development.”

Since Friday multiple employees of Kern Family Health Care have reached out to 17 News expressing similar worries.

Those like Erica Temple worry their employer’s plan to partner with an external vendor could threaten internal staffing.

That partnership — which has been in the works for about six months — has now been confirmed.

During that meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve a three-year contract with AllMed Healthcare Management.

Seven groups, including AllMed, were initially proposed and considered.

“What we’re trying to do is augment services so there’s no delay in membership,” said Emily Duran, CEO of Kern Family Health Care. “Ensuring that we do not delay care, we do not delay any authorization is our utmost responsibility. Our responsibility is to our 400,000 members.”

Some medical services require prior authorization, such as to meet with a specialist in neurology or dermatology.

Kern Family Health Care, one of three Medi-Cal managed care plans in Kern County, must help patients get that authorization between 72 hours to 5 days.

CEO Emily Duran said her team, as is, doesn’t have the bandwidth to provide quick authorization.

So, the third party can help tackle cases in their queue.

“Unfortunately, in Kern County, we do not have a lot of registered nurses,” Duran said. “We have a shortage in medical professionals, so we are trying to augment our services because we just don’t have the bandwidth right now. We currently have 50 vacancies for our organization.”

Additionally, it was noted AllMed Healthcare Management could provide specialty-to-specialty interactions. That means, when authorizations for patients are being discussed, the experts can talk to one another (i.e. a cardiologist with a cardiologist).

“Our reassurance [to employees] was, we are changing some of our structure, we need to be a lot more efficient … we are gathering some assistance, that is the message. We are not here to displace anyone,” Duran added.

When asked if layoffs have been ruled out, Duran did not provide a direct answer.

She did say, though, some workers’ positions in the company may shift. It’s likely fewer than 30 of the company’s 650 employees could see this role switch.

Duran repeated there’s been nothing said of layoffs to employees.

During the board’s meeting, she stated, “We have not issued a reduction in force. If there were significant layoffs, then we’d be required to issue a WARN Act, we have not issued a WARN Act.”

A WARN letter is a legally mandated, advance notification of mass layoffs.

“How [the partnership] impacts each and every employee is to be determined,” Chief Human Resources Officer Devin Brown said to the board.

Kern Family Health Care has requested a little over $19 million for the three-year contract.

That funding, as well as overall funding for the medical group, comes from the state of California, as KHS provides Medi-Cal managed care. A KHS spokesperson said they receive a per member per month dollar amount to administer healthcare services for members.

For KHS to provide all outpatient authorization services, costs would’ve amounted to about $16 million.

The spokesperson told 17 News the group has a contract with California’s Department of Health Care Services. Thus, KHS must remain in compliance with various state requirements.

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Duran noted KHS has already been fined by the state — the current estimate is $11 million — for compliance failure. The fine has been paid yet.

Duran attributed that to insufficient staffing, again underscoring the need for external help, such as from AllMed in outpatient authorization services.

“I don’t know that we’ve got an alternative. I think [the contract] is a good way to move forward,” said Board Treasurer Ross Elliott.

“They want authorization now, as quickly as possible. So, this prevents delays, it feels more efficient for my patients. I think that’s the bottom line. They get taken care of their medical problem at that moment,” said Board Secretary Vijaykumar B. Patel, in support of the external partnership.

KHS Chief Information Officer Richard Pruitt made clear AllMed would only be handling 30% of outpatient authorization services.

The rest will continue being managed by pre-existing employees of that department, such as Erica Temple.

“We’re not like a Kaiser or a United that’s going to go oop, goodbye [to employees],” Pruitt said to the Board.

Duran added, “So, the communication, we’re staying close to our team. I’m sorry some felt that way [about layoffs], but that is not our intent.”

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