Skip to main content

Frequently Asked Questions for Regional Medical Center (RMC) Employees

FAQs for RMC Employees:

If the County and HCA successfully complete the agreement for the County to buy RMC, the County is committed to offering employment to all eligible employees at RMC.  Because the County is a well-regarded and stable employer, offering very competitive wages and benefits, we are hopeful that most current RMC staff will decide to continue to work at RMC when it is operated by the County.

The County and HCA Healthcare, the entity that owns RMC, are now in the process of negotiating a purchase agreement, completing the “due diligence” process of the acquisition, and taking the steps necessary to obtain appropriate approvals to move forward with the transaction, which will take several months. While the exact timing is still to be determined, the County hopes to be able to complete the transaction, assume operations at RMC, and begin County employment for eligible RMC employees in the first quarter of 2025. 

The County recently updated its Merit System Rules which will simplify the transition of RMC employees into County employment compared with the process that was used following the County’s acquisition of O’Connor and St. Louise hospitals in 2019. Based on a new Merit System Rule (Sec. A25-89), to be appointed in a County job, RMC employees will need to:

  • meet the employment standards for the classification to which they are appointed;
  • have previously qualified for their position at RMC through RMC's hiring process; and 
  • have been employed in a full-time or part-time capacity for at least six months with no break in service prior to County employment. 

Employees will not have to re-apply or compete for their jobs through a regular recruitment process. Instead, at the appropriate time, employees will be asked to:

For a list of all County job classifications, including the employment standards to meet each job classification and the job description, click here.

Yes.  As discussed above, the County’s new Merit System Rule (Sec. A25-89) creates a simplified process for RMC staff who have been employed in a full-time or part-time capacity with RMC for at least six months with no break in service prior to County employment.  For example, if the hospital transaction becomes final in February 2025, anyone hired by RMC prior to August 2024 without a break in service, would be eligible for this simplified hiring process with the County. Staff with less than this 6-month experience requirement, will also be eligible to work for the County at RMC, and there will be County positions created and available for which these staff can apply.  The difference is that these newer staff will need to apply for these jobs and take any necessary exams. 

Yes. The vast majority of employees the County intends to hire to provide services at RMC will receive benefits. To prepare for the RMC transition, the County Board of Supervisors has already taken action to create more than 1,300 new positions that come with full benefits, as outlined in the relevant collective bargaining agreement for each job classification. Additional positions will likely be created as we get closer to the transition. The County does hire a limited number of Extra Help staff to support its healthcare operations, who are hourly and receive limited benefits, but those staff account for only a small share of County work.

Yes. Typically, new County staff need to wait one month for their health insurance benefits to take effect. However, given this unique situation, the County is committed to working with employees through the transition to enroll and ensure health insurance benefits are active for former RMC employees on the first day of their County employment.  RMC employees will need to select their health plan ahead of time in order to ensure benefits are in place on Day 1. Information and enrollment forms will be provided to RMC employees prior to the transition to facilitate this selection and timely activation of benefits.

RMC employees hired by the County will be matched into an existing County job classification that is comparable to the employee’s former position with RMC. Employees will be placed into the appropriate salary step within that classification based on the employee’s relevant experience.  If an employee is in a role for which there is no comparable County job classification, the County is prepared to create new job classifications (which should be rare). More information about County job classifications and corresponding pay / salary ranges is available here.

Note: The County is working with HCA on a full accounting of all current positions with job descriptions in order to do a crosswalk against the County’s comparable positions. The County will need to review this information, as well as each individual’s job application to understand their experience level for step placement, to determine the specific pay rates of individual employees.

The salary placement will be determined by the classification to which someone is matched.  The County’s pay scale is published on the Salary Plan here.  Note that these pay ranges adjust when previously negotiated pay increases take effect.  For example, all salaries for Clinical Nurses will increase by 3.5% on October 28, 2024, consistent with the terms of the RNPA collective bargaining agreement.

The County Ordinance Code requires that employees meet the employment standards for the position that they hold. The County does not expect this to be a significant issue for RMC employees because the County’s job specifications contain employment standards that accurately reflect the experience, skills, and/or certifications/licenses ordinarily needed to perform the position’s duties. If an employee nevertheless is unable to satisfy the employment standards for the position to which they are matched, the employee will be placed into a classification for which they do meet employment standards.

Yes. The County is committed to rapidly reinstating the service lines that were recently downgraded at RMC, including Level 2 trauma services, comprehensive stroke response, and STEMI services. The County also plans to ultimately restore obstetrics, labor and delivery, and newborn care services, which were closed at RMC in 2020.

No. This is something outside of the County’s control. County pensions are administered through CalPERS, and service time for purposes of the retirement pension benefits calculation is defined by the California Public Employees Retirement Law. Service time from a private employer does not qualify towards CalPERS pension benefits.

Yes. The County has many shifts for nursing staff, including 8-, 10-, and 12-hour shifts. The County’s Side Letter with RNPA references that nurses’ current shifts will be maintained. This commitment includes maintaining existing 8-hour shifts as well as any existing 10- or 12-hour shifts. 

Yes, the side letter with RNPA is a binding agreement. RMC nurses who are hired into County positions represented by RNPA (e.g., Clinical Nurse I, II, and III) would be covered by the Side Letter as well as the full RNPA collective-bargaining agreement which is effective through October 24, 2027. It is RNPA’s full collective bargaining agreement that specifies health, pension and other benefits for the County’s clinical nursing staff – including such staff who would work at RMC.

No. “Bumping” within the County only occurs during the unlikely event of a layoff situation when there is not a vacant position to place an affected employee into. County employees cannot bid on assignments/shifts for filled positions and thereby “bump” another employee. Should a position/shift/FTE become vacant, employees would follow the applicable transfer process to apply for the opportunity. 

Starting on day one, RMC employees in classifications that are mapped to union-represented County classifications will be covered by the relevant, full collective-bargaining agreements for that union (including all health, pension, and other benefits spelled out in those agreements). The current union contracts for the County of Santa Clara can be found here.
  
In addition to the rights and benefits that will be provided to former RMC employee through the County’s existing collective bargaining agreements, the County is in discussions with SEIU Local 521, the union representing nearly all of the non-nursing staff at County hospitals clinics, on a potential side letter, similar to the RNPA side letter related to RMC. We anticipate this agreement could be reached quite soon, though the exact timing is hard to predict.

Anyone may apply to open competitive recruitments for County positions. However, RMC employees interested in working at RMC if the County’s proposed purchase is successful should wait for the purchase agreement between the County and HCA to be completed and then follow the process described above. Updates and instructions on timing and how to follow this process will be provided to RMC employees as the acquisition gets closer to completion.

No. Existing PTO and other benefits in HCA’s collective bargaining agreements will not carry over as a result of the acquisition. Instead, HCA will cash out its staff who leave HCA employment for any compensable leave balances that would normally be due upon transition of employment, just as HCA does whenever anyone leaves HCA employment. Employees of RMC who are then hired by the County will start with all the benefits applicable to their respective job classifications under the Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement (i.e., the collective bargaining agreements) between the County and the unions representing those County classifications. Information on the highly competitive wages and benefits offered through County employment, including very generous medical, pension, dental, vision, PTO, retiree medical, and many other benefits, can be found here. The County’s Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement with its unions are available here.

Shift, work locations, seniority, and other items are governed by the applicable Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement (MOA) between the County and the unions representing those County job classifications. The County has already reached a side letter agreement with the Registered Nurses Professional Association (RNPA). The side letter agreement serves as an amendment to the current, full, RNPA MOA to specifically address a limited number of issues related to bringing RMC nurses into County positions, including ensuring that RMC nurses will be able to keep their same schedule, including workdays, shift, code status, and alternate hours (such as 10- or 12-hour shifts), as applicable, once they join the County. RMC nurses who are hired into County positions would be covered by the full RNPA MOA effective day-one of employment. When the County acquired O’Connor and St. Louise hospitals, side letter agreements were reached with other County unions related to vacation priority and shift selection. The County will work with each of the relevant County unions to establish any applicable agreements related to these issues for former RMC employees.

The County must comply with the State law governing labor relations, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), and its own local ordinances when it acquires a new facility with employees that have a union contract. The County is legally prohibited from recognizing two separate unions that represent the same classes of workers. For that reason, employees at the new facility become represented by the union that currently has a contract with the County. For instance, nurses at RMC would be represented by the Registered Nurses Professional Association and janitorial staff would be represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 521. 

When the County acquired O’Connor and St. Louise hospitals from Verity Health System five years ago, the California Nurses Association (CNA) filed a petition with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which is the State agency responsible for deciding labor disputes with public employers. CNA argued that the County was required to recognize CNA’s contract with Verity. PERB ruled in the County’s favor and issued a published decision affirming that the County properly followed the MMBA and its own ordinances. The County intends to continue following the law, as it was affirmed by PERB.

The County’s Employee Services Agency website contains answers to many questions about County employment. The “Job Search Tool Kit” and “Why Join Us?” pages have pertinent information. In addition to the useful menus, the “I am searching for…” field in the upper right corner of the page is helpful for finding information on specific topics.  Use the following links for information on pay and benefits available for County positions.

Yes. If the County acquires RMC, substantially all persons in good standing working on a Per Diem basis at RMC will be offered “Extra Help” or Per Diem appointments with the County.  The County uses Extra Help and Per Diem appointments at its health care facilities in a substantially similar manner as the private sector. 

No, regular County recruitment and hiring will be ongoing throughout the transition.

Employees currently working for the County as Extra Help or Per Diem will have an opportunity to apply for full-time or part-time employment with benefits in lieu of Extra Help or Per Diem employment.

Employees currently working for the County as a 0.5 FTE or higher will have an opportunity to apply to increase their FTE, but will not be eligible to continue working as Extra Help or Per Diem at any County owned and operated facilities.

No. Many County of Santa Clara employees live outside of the County’s geographic boundaries. Please note that employees must live in California.

View current collective bargaining agreements with represented County employees here.

For additional information on the potential RMC purchase, visit the County’s Frequently Asked Questions page for the general public or learn more from the press release announcing the tentative agreement.