On Thursday, February 28, 2008, the Travis County Healthcare District (TCHD) Board of Managers approved the final elements of an Employment Package for City of Austin Community Care Services Department employees who will be transferring in March 2009 from the City to the District or a new 501(c)(3) corporation specifically designed for the provision of healthcare services.

The District and the City of Austin currently have a time-limited interlocal agreement in which the District funds the provision of Community Health Center services and the Medical Assistance Program and CCSD employees provide those services.  The main purposes of the Agreement were to permit the District to develop its infrastructure and to secure the transfer of the Federally Qualified Health Center (“FQHC”) and Section 330 grantee status from the City to the District.  This transition date for both the employees and the grantee status is scheduled for March 1, 2009.

President and CEO Patricia Young Brown states, "We made a commitment early on in this process to present to the transitioning employees their future Employment Package one year in advance of the transition.  We are pleased to honor that commitment today by presenting an Employment Package that is competitive in our specific healthcare market and which will enable us to recruit and retain talented employees who provide excellent healthcare services to the underserved in our community."  The Employment Package gives transferring employees information on the following elements;    

• Salary & Wages
• Benefits
• Retirement Program
• Paid Time Off, Holidays and Other Paid Leave

Several issues, including the issue of employee leave balances that the City is not obligated to pay, have been topics of discussion between the District and the City for the past year. Although discussions with the City will continue, the District believed it was important that the transitioning employees know the disposition of these leave balances at the time the Employment Package was announced.

Last evening the District Board of Managers expressed its intention to honor the continued service of these transferring employees through retention payments based on their leave balance accruals.  District Chairperson Carl Richie stated "We believe that this action will allow the employees’ transition into the new organization to be as seamless as possible. This will allow us to continue our focused efforts on enhancing community access to superior healthcare for the patients we serve."

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