In Brief: San Bernardino Health Department Hit By Mass Shooting; NLRB Says Prime Violated Law

San Bernardino County Health Department Hit By Mass Shooting

Employees of the San Bernardino County Department of Health were victims of a mass shooting that occurred Wednesday at a center for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino. The department was renting space at the facility for a holiday party, according to various news accounts.

Altogether, 14 people were killed and 17 others wounded in the shooting, most or all of them believed to be health department employees.

Police named Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, as a suspect in the shooting, as well as his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27.

The website Transparent California identified Farook as an environmental health specialist with the department. Records from that website suggested he began the job in 2012.

Witnesses said that Farook left the party shortly before a group photo was taken, and later returned with Malik, both wearing tactical gear and brandishing weapons.

Prime Healthcare Violated Law, NLRB Rules

Ontario-based hospital chain Prime Healthcare Services violated labor law when it cut the healthcare benefits of employees at Centinela Medical Center in Inglewood in 2011.

That was the decision of the National Labor Relations Board, which ordered Prime to reimburse the employees $1.6 million. That decision was recently upheld by an administrative law judge.

According to a statement issued by the Service Employees International-United Healthcare Workers West, some employees had to pay as much as $3,900 to subsidize their healthcare costs after Prime made the changes to their benefits “unilaterally.” 

Among the changes was a switch from an HMO and PPO product to a PPO and an EPO. The latter product would have prompted employees covered by the labor pact to use Prime hospitals for their care.

COPE CEO Named To Payers & Providers Board

Allen Miller, the founder and chief exeucitve officer of COPE Health Solutions in Los Angeles, has been named to the Payers & Providers editorial board.

Miller founded the company in 1995 as a volunteer community education group. It now provides healthcare training, consulting and educational services throughout the United States. Miller will be a regular contributor to the Payers & Providers opinion page.

“Allen provides a tremendous perspective on the challenges hospitals and other providers have in assembling staffs with cutting-edge training. He will be a big asset to the publication,” said Ron Shinkman, the Publisher of Payers & Providers. “He also has a great eye for selecting whiskey, which given my background as a journalist I can only deeply admire.”

Miller, a resident of Los Angeles, earned both his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in public health from UCLA.