(a)  The hospital authority shall have the power to acquire and possess real or personal property and may dispose of real or personal property other than that owned by the county, as may be necessary for the performance of its functions. The hospital authority shall have the power to sue or be sued, to employ personnel, and to contract for services required to meet its obligations.

(b)  This section shall not be construed to authorize the hospital authority to contract for services that were performed by county civil service employees on June 30, 1999, unless the hospital authority determines that contracting for these services is either of the following:

(1)  Necessary to ensure the continued availability of certain health care services.

(2)  Necessary to meet the funding constraints presented by available financing.

(c)  If the hospital authority determines that contracting out for the services pursuant to subdivision (b) is necessary, the authority shall provide for full communication between the hospital authority and county civil services employees, pursuant to § 3505 of the Government Code. The communications shall include, but not be limited to, the extent to which the decision to contract out for services could result in the termination or unemployment of county civil service employees.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 899, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)