It’s often noted that if California were a sovereign nation, it would have the sixth-largest economy in the world.
The state agency with the biggest budget is, not surprisingly, the California Department of Health Care Services, which in fiscal 2015-16 had almost 4,000 employees and a $91 billion budget. By way of comparison, about $3.1 billion has been allocated to the IT Department.
Here’s a look at the Health Care Services Department:
Director of Department of Health Care Services:
Jennifer Kent was named director in January 2015. She worked as executive director of Local Health Plans of California from September 2013 before coming to the DHCS. She was principal at Health Management Services from 2011 to 2013, before which she served as associate director at the California Department of Health Care Services.
Contact Info: Jennifer.kent@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7400
916-442-7404
Chief Deputy Director of Health Care Programs:
Mari Cantwell was appointed in February 2013 and assumed responsibility as the state Medicaid director in February 2015. She is responsible for the overall management of Health Care Delivery Systems, Health Care Financing, and Health Care Benefits and Eligibility. She had served as deputy director for Health Care Financing since 2011. Previously, she was vice president of finance policy for the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.
Contact Info: Marianne.cantwell@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7400
Chief Deputy Director of Policy and Program Support:
Erika Sperbeck was appointed on March 17. She had been deputy commissioner for Administration and Licensing Services in the California Department of Insurance since 2011. She also served as an assistant secretary in the California Health and Human Services Agency from 2010-2011.
Contact Info: Erika.sperbeck@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7400
Head of IT (CIO) and Deputy Director:
Barney Gomez was appointed to the position in September 2015 after working in it in an acting capacity for three months after the department’s previous CIO, Chris Cruz, was named chief deputy director of operations for the Department of Technology. Gomez began working in state service in 1999 at the Legislative Data Center. He has also worked in the private sector as a systems engineer and a network manager.
Contact Info: barney.gomez@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7340
Deputy Directors:
Karen Baylor — for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services
Baylor, who was appointed in June 2013, had been the behavioral health administrator for San Luis Obispo County since 2005. She worked in several positions at FamiliesFirst Inc. of Davis from 2002 to 2005, including Director of Clinical Services and Program Development.
Contact Info: karen.baylor@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7800
Lindy Harrington — for Health Care Financing
Appointed in August 2015, Harrington has been working at the Department of Health Care Services since 2007. She previously worked for the Department of Health Services from 2000 to 2007, and briefly worked in the Department of Public Health in 2007 before joining the DHCS.
Contact Info: lindy.harrington@dhcs.ca.gov
916-322-4831
René Mollow — for Health Care Benefits & Eligibility
Appointed in July 2012, she has been working in this position in an acting capacity since 2012. She was chief of Medi-Cal eligibility for DHCS from 2010-2012. Before working in the DHCS, Mollow held multiple positions in the Department of Health Services from 1995 to 2009, including associate director of health policy, health program manager, supervisor and nurse consultant.
Contact Info: rene.mollow@dhcs.ca.gov
916-552-9450
Sarah Brooks — for Health Care Delivery Systems
Appointed in May 2015, Brooks has been working for the Department of Health Care Services since 2012. She had been assistant director of policy for the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems from 2007 to 2012, and was a fiscal policy analyst for the Indian Legislative Services Agency from 2003 to 2007.
Contact Info: sarah.brooks@dhcs.ca.gov
916-440-7800
The mission of the California Department of Health Care Services is to provide Californians with access to affordable, integrated, high-quality health care, including medical, dental, mental health, substance abuse treatment and long-term care.
The agency's vision is to preserve and improve the overall health and well-being of all Californians.
DHCS’ mission and vision are imbued with its core values of integrity, service, accountability and innovation. These core values are linked to clear professional standards for all department managers, employees and business partners.
DHCS funds health-care services for about 13.5 million Medi-Cal members. About one-third of Californians receive health-care services financed or organized by DHCS, making the department the largest health-care purchaser in California. The department's success is made possible only through collaboration and cooperation with other state agencies, counties and partners as we invest more than $93 billion for the care of low-income families, children, pregnant women, seniors and persons with disabilities.
For fiscal 2017-18, the governor’s May budget revision includes $108.4 billion for the support of DHCS programs and services. Of that total, $652 million is for state operations, and the remaining $107.7 billion supports local assistance.
In the May Estimate there is $6.2 million in the General Fund which has been allocated for the implementation of functional assessment tools for people receiving specialty mental health services. These assessment tools will collect data from the perspective doctors and caregivers alike and will be used to track the outcomes for Medi-Cal mental health services provided to children and young people up to age 21. The revision is representative of the training, staff and information technology costs associated with the implementation of these tools
The Department of Health Care Services has requested a one-time contract funding in order to upgrade the Enhanced Medi-Cal Budget Estimate Redesign (EMBER) system. The current system is becoming more and more incompatible with newer software and is unable to receive software updates. The proposed upgrade would improve system stability and flexibility, while making it adaptable to the changes in the Medi-Cal program. The upgrades would also make future enhancements to the system simpler and increase accuracy of the system. This project would have a budget of $495,000.
DHCS currently uses California Medicaid Management System (CA-MMIS) legacy operations and have requested resources until all functionality has been transitioned to the proposed replacement modular solution. The budget for the continued use of this system until it can be replaced is $9,143,000.
The federal General Services Administration has recommended a modernization strategy for the California Medicaid Management Information System. The goal of the project is to adopt a user-centered, iterative, modular approach to design, development and implementation of system modules to replace the existing legacy system. The proposed budget for this modernization would be $5,754,000.
The California Medicaid Management Information System is developing an RFP for various operations of the CA-MMIS program that assist with numerous other Medi-Cal program-related services necessary to support health-care delivery to as many as 14 million Californians.
https://governmentnavigator.com/opportunities/rfp/506386
