The Contra Costa County Health department is staring at a deficit of $730 million over the next five years because of federal and state funding cuts, county health officials said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The agency is responsible for offering managed-care health plans and medical care for county residents, in addition to providing public health programs and regulating local industries that impact public health. In the June election, county voters chose not to approve Measure X, a proposed sales tax that would have raised $150 million annually to backfill federal funding cuts to health care and other essential services.
The Board of Supervisors put the measure on the ballot, saying that the tax was necessary to maintain health care, supplemental food assistance, and other essential county services in the face of recent federal cuts. “First, the good news: the short-term fiscal picture for Contra Costa Health has improved,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Contra Costa Health, referring to the reduction in his department’s projected deficit for the 2026-2027 financial year from $80 million to $10 million. But “the long-term fiscal status of Contra Costa Health remains dire,” he added.
Colfax said that his department was able to cut down the short-term deficit by figuring out ways to increase revenue by streamlining service delivery and cutting costs through hiring changes. But his department will require changes in federal and state funding and policy to overcome the long-term deficit, he said.
Federal cuts laid out in last year’s H.R.1 will impact how much funding Contra Costa Health will receive for providing primary and preventative care to uninsured patients, and for emergency care.
Meanwhile, healthcare cuts in California’s budget will move 47,500 residents off a managed care Medi-Cal plan and will cut primary care reimbursements for some immigrants by 90% in 2027.
Throughout these changes, however, the county will be federally required to screen and treat anyone who visits the emergency department.
“We will continue to see people at the most expensive, the most intensive level of care at the hospital,” said Andrew Murrell, the chief financial officer at Contra Costa Health. “Our obligation to do that continues.” The Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center in Martinez and its affiliated health clinics will be the worst hit by the funding cuts, said David Culberson, chief executive officer of the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center & Health Centers.
The hospital saw more than 38,000 emergency care visits last year, and one in five county residents receive primary care there, Culberson added. The way out, he said, was to find services where the demand exceeds supply and figure out ways to add appointment slots to increase the hospital’s revenues and also cut down on the delivery of some services. “It’s important to realize that this is not a pure growth strategy,” said Culberson. “This is really taking a look at a balanced strategy: growth, sustainability, and reductions as necessary.” Colfax said that Contra Costa Health will continue to refine its long-term plan to chip away at the fiscal deficit and return to the Board with updates on implementing it.
Sounds like a skill issue. They had to know the windfall of covid funds would expire, but they blew it on caring for illegals anyway, and now ask for more. Same with BART. Contra Costa and the Bay Area are run by incompetent children.
“………eventually you run out of OTHER PEOPLES money…….”
Pay attention to how you VOTE in the next elections! The current majority “DOGEd” so much in the 1.5 terms they were in charge. So many are hurt by their actions.
Who exactly was hurt by outing the fraud and abuse? Illegals? Fraudsters? Good!!!!! hope it hurt them as as deeply as it hurts us the tax paying citizens. The illegals need to be returned home where they belong and as for the criminals put them in a federal prison and let them rot for life. If the “so many are hurt by their actions” is referencing the hard working citizens holding up the scam perpatrated by the dems then yeah…but we all know that is not what was meant.
My ancestors were not Ohlone. Most of us have roots elsewhere.
@ConcordRez, that was irrelevant as well as ret@rded
LMAO 🤣😂🤣😂
That’s great but hardly the point.
ConcordRez,
.
My ancestors weren’t Chupcan, Saclan, or Volvon Miwoks, they were Paiute, Bannock, Shoshone, Ute, and Kiowa, but what does that have to do with anything?
ConcordRez,
.
Why aren’t you placing any blame on the voters of Contra Costa County for voting down Measure B this past June, the 0.625% sales tax increase which was to raise $150+ million annually to prop up Contra Costa Health Services? Measure B went down to spectacular defeat, losing by 13.74% or 41,254 votes. Why do you believe that Washington, D.C. is responsible for funding Contra Costa Health Services? Since you brought up President Trump’s first term, you should be aware that Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress for the last two years of President Trump’s first term, so they had plenty of input in spending for those two years.
The COVID money was always going to run out, CCH and BART have seen this coming for years and haven’t done much to manage it. Asking for more money for taxpayers isn’t a long term viable solution, it just means they’ll come back with their hands out in a few years.
That $730 million comes to about $625.00 per resident of Contra Costa County.
May be they can start with cutting their “equity team”. Just getting rid of the “Chief Equity Officer” will save a cool 300K/year. And hardly anybody will notice the difference.
look up their salaries on Google. There are a ton of people making 150 to well over 250k. They are leeches. There’s people working at the county for many years. Hiring their friends and families. That’s why others can’t get jobs. Look at who runs these facilities. I worked at the health clinics and the nurses are well over paid. The manager I worked with sits on his butt all day making 250. Both of them. Joey and olegario. I can name several people who I worked with who are bullies and overpaid and who all know each other. They should be investigated at the clinics. At the jail. At the psych. And the hospital internal staff. That’s where our money is going
look at their bogus salaries on transparentcalifornia.com
So if the tax measure passed would he have done this anyway? — Colfax said that his department was able to cut down the short-term deficit by figuring out ways to increase revenue by streamlining service delivery and cutting costs through hiring changes.
WC—Creeker,
.
If he was able to cut the Contra Costa Health Services projected deficit by $70 million for 2026-2027, then how many hundreds of millions or billions were wasted by not making these changes years ago? He just admitted to massive waste in the Contra Costa Health Services system. Did he make these changes before or after Measure B failed?
Stop providing free health care to illegal aliens, and you’d have plenty of money. This deficit is caused by California’s ridiculous stance on illegal immigration. YOU GET WHAT YOU VOTE FOR!!