BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
On September 18, 2012, the Board of Supervisor's authorized the Employment and Human Services Interim Director to discuss the parameters of a partnership with the Health Care Exchange Board to establish a Call Center to provide enrollment and eligibility services to consumers, and to bring information gathered back to the Board.
On December 4, 2012, the Board of Supervisors accepted an update on the progress made and authorized the Employment and Human Services Interim Director to determine whether to submit a proposal to the State of California for operation of a Health Benefit Exchange (HBEX) Call Center and, if competitive, submit the proposal by the due date.
On December 7, 2012, the Employment and Human Services Department submitted a proposal to the State of California's Request for Offers (RFO) to operate a Health Benefit Exchange Call Center within Contra Costa County.
Contra Costa County’s Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) submitted a response to this RFO for multiple reasons, but the primary reason was we want to partner with the State and the Exchange in ensuring that expanded health care coverage is made available, in a user-friendly fashion, to all eligible California residents. In addition, we believe that working with the Exchange would benefit not only EHSD in a variety of ways, but that participation would benefit the entire County. Not only does the work of California Covered and the Exchange help to further the mission of the Employment and Human Services Department, but we believe that locating a service center in this County will be a boost to our economy. Of the eight counties in the Bay Area, Contra Costa has been among those most hard hit by the economic downturn. At one point over the past 6 years our County’s unemployment rate was over 12% and several cities within the County were particularly affected by job losses and foreclosures with even higher unemployment rates.
The Board of Supervisors has long seen the importance of and accepted a leadership role in financing and providing health care to county residents, regardless of their ability to pay for the costs of that care. This County has a lengthy history of owning and operating a public hospital and health clinics, and it was the first county in California to own and operate its own health plan.
Two counties submitted responses to the RFO - Contra Costa and Stanislaus. The State met with both counties regarding their submissions. The State representatives were also given a tour of the Medi-Cal Call Center in Antioch.
On Friday, January 18, 2013, the Health Benefit Exchange/Covered California announced their decision to partner with Contra Costa County to operate a County-run Call Center. The Board was updated about this decision at their meeting on January 22, 2013.
On January 29, 2013, at the Board's annual retreat, the Health Services Director and the Employment and Human Services Director updated the Board on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. During this discussion the Board directed staff to consider facilities in several areas of the County, especially in the East and West portions.
PROJECT TEAM/MANAGEMENT
Upon notification from the Health Benefit Exchange (HBEX) that it intended to award Contra Costa County the one county-operated Call Center, the Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) shifted into overdrive to meet the multitude of deadlines that are necessary to negotiate the contract, identify appropriate sites to consider for a facility, hire staff, establish a project planning and monitoring tool, establish staff training, and organize and prioritize its work so that the Call Center will be in a testing mode by July 1, and accepting calls from the public on October 1, 2013.
As the Board knows, the State’s plan is extremely ambitious and its time lines are equally so. By extension the time lines also apply to the County. The State will have three Call Centers to receive calls from the State’s residents inquiring about the newly available health insurance coverage. Two of the Call Centers will be operated directly by the State, the third by the County under contract with the State. All three Call Centers will operate under the same operational protocols and performance standards that the State establishes.
EHSD Director, Kathy Gallagher, has established a multi-disciplinary team of professionals from across the department, with valuable assistance from Human Resources, Public Works Real Estate Division, County Counsel, Department of Information Technology and the County Administrator’s Office to take oversight over each facet of the project’s development and implementation. Kathy will retain executive sponsorship of the Call Center to ensure that it receives the resources necessary to meet the pressing time lines and performance standards. Wendy Therrian, Director of EHSD’s Workforce Services Bureau, will have overall operational responsibility for the Call Center. Aiding Ms. Therrian will be Mike Roetzer, Director of EHSD’s Administrative Services and he will be responsible for the department’s facilities, budget, and personnel. Wendy and Mike are the most senior Bureau Directors in the Department and have direct management experience with starting up and operating new business processes.
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
County staff, including EHSD administrative, fiscal, and program personnel; Human Resources Department, County Counsel and the County Administrator's Office have concluded a number of conference call meetings to discuss contract language and are coming to agreement on the terms of the contract and contract language. This process has not, as of the time this Board Order was written, resulted in a final agreement on the contract terms, but agreement is imminent. Upon final agreement, staff will request the Board to approve the contract and authorize the Chair of the Board to sign the agreement.
STAFFING/LABOR
204 positions will be established for the operations of the Call Center. These positions are 100% dedicated to the activities of the Call Center.
The HBEX requires a certain staffing pattern at its service centers and this requirement also applies to the County’s Call Center. The prescribed staffing pattern requires that EHSD hire and train 204 employees by July 1, 2013. This includes three managers, one trainer, 12 customer service supervisors, 180 customer service agents (both permanent and intermittent), and eight support positions (e.g. Secretary, Personnel Services Assistant, Clerical Supervisor, Program Integrity Assistant, and four Clerks). While some of these positions may be filled laterally, it is anticipated that the majority will be new hires.
The Call Center will be required to accept calls for 59 hours a week, Monday through Saturday. During the Affordable Care Act’s annual three month open enrollment period, October through December, the Call Center will extend its hours to 72 per week Monday thru Saturday. The plan and budget for the Call Center is to staff the core 40 hours with permanent full time staff and the extended hours, i.e. those past 40, with permanent intermittent employees. Permanent intermittent employees will also be used to fill in behind permanent staff during vacation, sick leave, etc.
As previously mentioned, the Call Center is to be operational by July 1, 2013, to begin the State required testing of the hardware, software, and staff. That live testing and program refinements continue through September with open enrollment commencing on October 1, 2013.
Timelines for Staffing - Summary
| March 1 |
Manager and trainer positions filled |
| March 19 |
Customer service supervisors, Clerical Supervisor, Personnel Services Assistant and Clerical support positions filled |
| April |
Managers and trainer complete state required training and certification |
| April 30 |
Customer service agent positions filled |
| May & June |
Customer service supervisor and agents complete state required training and certification |
| July 1 |
Live testing with the state-supplied hardware and software commences and continues through September |
| October 1 |
The Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period begins and continues until December 31 |
Over the last week, the Human Resources Department and County Administration has been meeting with the labor representatives from the impacted unions, including:
- American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 2700
- American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Locals 512
- Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21
- Service Employees International Union, Local 1021
The labor representatives are as excited about this opportunity as County staff and are working with us to reach agreement as quickly as possible regarding the classifications and working conditions of these new employees.
Outreach and Recruitment – Summary
The establishment of this Call Center is a major undertaking and involves a myriad of County and community partners. Recruiting, hiring and training this number of employees within the time allotted is without parallel in recent memory. While it will require a lot of work and cooperation, creating these jobs was the primary reason for the County’s application. The opportunity to create 204 quality jobs during these continuing difficult times is also without parallel.
As discussed elsewhere in this report, EHSD is working diligently with Human Resources and our employee organizations to outline the task before us and the nature of this new work.
The majority of these new positions are entry level and will be attractive to our residents. EHSD will be working with the County’s Workforce Development Board and Richmond’s Workforce Investment Board to coordinate outreach and inform job seekers of these opportunities. EHSD will be informing CalWORKS participants of these jobs and encouraging them to apply. Additionally, we will out-reach to our non-profit partners in the community. It is anticipated that these outreach efforts will include group presentations and job fairs.
FACILITIES
At the request of the Board of Supervisors, the Public Works Real Estate Division was asked to identify possible sites in east, west and central county, in areas of highest unemployment, that were large enough for 180-200 employees (mostly in office cubicles) that would require the least cost, both in terms of rent and renovation costs necessary to convert the space to a Call Center, provide access to public transportation and were in the vicinity of other Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) offices. These criteria were developed at the request of the State and were included in the County's proposal. The criteria were approved by the Exchange Board and considered in their decision to award the contract to Contra Costa County. Time is of the essence since the State wants the Call Center in operation by July 1, 2013, which is a very short time-frame.
Cost of the facility is a major concern to the State Exchange management since the entire Call Center operation, including the County-run center, must be self-sustaining by January 2015. All indications are that the County will be partnering with the Exchange to continue to operate the Call Center into 2015, and potentially beyond.
As shown on the spreadsheet attached to this Board Order, Real Estate staff, working with owners and brokers, located, reviewed, evaluated, and toured potential sites for the Call Center. The following sites were identified as potentially meeting the requirements:
1450 Marina Way South, Richmond
2500 Bates Avenue, Concord
4041 Lone Tree Way, Antioch
5065 Deer Valley Road, Antioch
The information on each building is on the spreadsheet provided. In addition, photos and marketing information on each site is attached. As part of the County’s due diligence, each site was toured to ensure it met the minimum needs for the Call Center.
| LOCATION |
PRO |
CON |
| 1450 MARINA WAY SOUTH, RICHMOND |
Lowest cost; Immediate availability; On public transportation route; City-sponsored shuttle from BART station; Close to existing EHSD facility; Building is move-in ready after workstations are installed; New jobs have ability to impact the high and chronic unemployment in area; Space for total number of staff is in a contiguous area; Ample parking on the site; Has security on site; Landlord will install a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). |
Work stations need to be purchased or leased and installed; Cabling for computers must be installed; No on-site generator; Minimal restaurants/services in general area; Those relying on public transportation may have to change buses to get to the site. |
| 2500 BATES AVENUE, CONCORD |
Site has a generator and Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) already on site to mitigate any power outage; There are nearly 400 existing call center workstations in the location giving it “plug and play” possibilities; Site is near another EHSD facility; Site is on public transportation routes and near BART; excellent parking ratio. |
Site has nearly 400 workstations already installed, which is twice as many as are needed and the Landlord is not willing to divide the space; Space costs are higher than two other sites; Has lowest unemployment rate of all areas considered; Cabling may need to be replaced to achieve Call Center capacity. |
| 4041 LONE TREE WAY, ANTIOCH |
Space is vacant and has almost enough existing workstations to offer “plug and play” possibilities; Space is almost ready for move-in; Has an existing UPS; In an area of high unemployment; Area has good services for employees. |
Highest costs; Space is already leased to another business. County would need to sublease, making the negotiations more complex, and will take longer to complete; Two separate suites may be needed to meet the workstation count, which may require separate leases; The suites are on separate floors making supervision more difficult; Not located close to any other EHSD facilities; Not close to BART, but is on public transit routes; Has the lowest parking ratio. |
| 5065 DEER VALLEY ROAD, ANTIOCH |
Building is vacant with 170 work stations in place; There is additional space to add work stations to meet total need; Has on-site generator; Located on public transit route; Possible “plug and play” based on existing lay out; In an area of high unemployment; Relatively lower cost for occupancy. |
Not located near another EHSD site; Not near BART; Near high school, which may result in adverse traffic impacts; Low parking ratio; The suites are on separate floors making supervision more difficult. |
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The Board of Supervisors and the public will not receive up-to-date information on the progress made in negotiating a contract with the State of California, staff will not receive needed direction from the Board, and over 200 well-paying potential County jobs will not be created.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
Not applicable.
CLERK'S ADDENDUM
Speaker: Bill Lindsey, City Manager of Richmond; Julie M. Waters, Office of Assemblymember Nancy Skinner; Tony Tiscareno, Antioch City Council; Mary Rocha, Antioch Mayor Pro-Tem; Brian Nunnally, City of Antioch; Mike Bank, Novo Construction; Dan Helix, Mayor of Concord; Jael Myrick, resident of Richmond; Tomi Vanderbrook, Office of Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla; Sal Evola, property owner of 2500 Bates Avenue in Concord; Robert Hammons, Brian Nunnelly, City of Antioch.
Written correspondence received from: Nancy Skinner, Assemblymember, 15th District; Bill Lindsay, Richmond City Manager; Tony Tiscareno, Antioch City Council; Monica Wilson, Antioch City Council; Jim Jakel, Antioch City Manager; Brian Nunnally, City of Antioch; Karl Dietzel, resident of Antioch; Chris Magnus, Richmond Chief of Police; Richard Poe, Virtual Development Corporation; S. Brooks Pedder, SIOR, Colliers International.
ACCEPTED an update on the progress made toward establishing a Health Benefit Exchange Call Center in Contra Costa County; DIRECTED that staff return to the Board on February 26, 2012 with comparison data on the potential Concord and Richmond sites to include the following:
Comprehensive account of initial cost outlay; occupancy cost analysis; timeline for site to be ready for occupation; consideration of community amenities avail such as public transit; and continuity of employment considerations under scenarios to include a lessening of service demand over time and the closure of the facility at the conclusion of the three-year contract.
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