Alameda County’s public hospital system, which includes the region’s main provider of mental health services and clinics serving thousands of low-income residents, has been spared layoffs — for now.
Yesterday, the Alameda Health System and the county agreed to hold off on job cuts scheduled to take effect on March 9.
The plan would have included the closure of mental health programs at Highland Hospital and Fairmont Hospital, AHS’s ambulatory plastic surgery program, and Highland Hospital’s Complex Care Program, which provides care to patients with multiple, chronic illnesses, many of whom are homeless. Other closures would have included Fairmont Hospital’s Kitchen Retail program, which provides meals to staff and visitors, and Highland Hospital’s Tele-sitter program, which helps AHS staff remotely monitor patients’ wellbeing while they’re hospitalized…