On March 6, 2025, UPE met with the Department of Health Services (DHS) to discuss the County’s plan regarding 71J for contracting with registries. The County intends to enter into agreements with fifteen vendors to provide temporary, on-call, and fill-in medical, dental, and mental health staff when County employees are unavailable due to vacancies, vacations, sick leave, or emergencies. The current 71J contract expires on June 30, 2025, and the new contracts would run from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028, with an option for a two-year extension.
During this meeting, UPE raised concerns about the financial and operational impact of the County’s continued use of contract workers. UPE questioned whether hiring contract workers through registries is truly more cost-effective than investing in additional full-time Communicable Disease Investigators (CDIs). UPE requested a detailed cost comparison between County-employed CDI labor rates and the contract worker rates for registry workers.
DHS has agreed to provide more information regarding cost comparisons. Once UPE receives and reviews this information, UPE will see whether this approach is truly cost-effective. UPE remains committed to advocating for County employee hiring and ensuring transparency in the County’s hiring and contracting decisions. We will continue to update members as more information becomes available.
UPE WOULD LIKE TO THANK UPE 005 GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS YOLANDA AUGUSTINE, SYLVIA GARCIA, AND JENNIFER AVALO FOR THEIR ADVOCACY AND PARTICIPATION.
