Latest news with #ManagementServicesAgreement
Scoop
6 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
South Wairarapa Plans To Spend Almost $30m On Water Infrastructure
South Wairarapa District Council is set to spend almost $30 million on capital water infrastructure projects in the next two years, with all to be delivered in-house until a new water services entity is established. Significant projects on the horizon for the council included upgrades to wastewater treatment plants in Greytown, Martinborough, and Featherston, pipe renewals, and capacity upgrades to enable growth. The council's Management Services Agreement with Wellington Water Limited was set to expire on June 30 but the council has voted to keep operational expenditure with the water management entity for another year and do its capital expenditure programme in-house. This vote was done in public exclusion and the report has recently been released. The report said the council would need to build a team to deliver South Wairarapa's full capital expenditure programme for at least the next two years, however, the proposed Wairarapa-Tararua entity could start as early as July 1, 2026. Over the first two years of the council's 2025-34 Long-Term Plan, its capital investment programme totalled $10.85m and $18.31m respectively, the report said. 'The expected benefits of us managing capital expenditure in-house are anticipated to be more cost control, cost efficiency, on-time delivery, local contractor delivery, and optimisation of the programme leading into the new entity in which our forward investment programme will be a factor for negotiations,' the report to council said. 'The risks are that there might be some delay while we source resourcing, and this may impact on relationships with the community and the regulator, but this should be able to be managed with proactive and comprehensive communications.' The report said the relationship between the council and Wellington Water had been 'fraught' and councillors had voted in public-exclusion in December to exit the relationship with Wellington Water on June 30, 2025. Councillors had instructed staff to explore options for interim arrangements, citing dissatisfaction with Wellington Water's performance. The report said the Local Water Done Well process had provided 'additional impetus to consider an early exit from Wellington Water by SWDC'. 'Earlier exit carries the potential for upside in terms of both improved levels of service in the short to medium term, and for being better prepared for the transition into the new entity, if well executed,' the report said. 'There are also risks to an earlier exit including being able to procure sufficient resources to replace Wellington Water and the distraction from the Local Water Done Well transition work that managing an early transition could cause.' In January, council chief executive Janice Smith and Deputy Mayor and Wellington Water Committee representative Melissa Sadler-Futter met with Wellington Water Board chair Nick Leggett and chief executive Pat Dougherty and gave them informal notice that the council intended to exit the relationship on June 30 but that this could be extended 'depending on practicality'. The report said council staff then requested information to assist with this transition but Wellington Water staff had been 'disappointingly' slow to respond, 'in part because our requests distract Wellington Water resources from other matters such as planning for the new Wellington Regional entity'. Initially, council staff were asked to look at a full-service external provider option taking both operational and capital expenditure away from Wellington Water but councillors voted at the end of April to take back capital projects only. At a Wellington Water Committee meeting on Friday, Dougherty said Wellington Water was working to transfer all capital projects back to the council by July 1 and was 'starting to get systems in place to look at how we transfer responsibilities for operations and maintenance by July 1, 2026'.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
San Joaquin County, Dignity Health reach extension on management services
May 15—The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors approved a three-year extension of its management services agreement with Dignity Health to manage San Joaquin General Hospital. The deal, which runs from July 1 of this year to June 30 of 2028, is worth just over $5.7 million. The county and Dignity Health, which is now known as CommonSpirit, have partnered on the hospital since 2022, when the board of supervisors found that San Joaquin General could operate more efficiently with a management agreement. The deal was originally for an 18-month period with a 10-year option. The supervisors extended it for an additional 18 months in 2023, and the current deal was set to expire on June 30 of this year. According to a press release from San Joaquin County, Dignity Health has implemented several changes in its time acting as management, including lowering the rate of SJGH-acquired infections, raising the hospital's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospital safety grade rating from an F to a C, reducing incomplete patient records from 15,000 to less than 200, and financial improvements. "Since the implementation of the Management Services Agreement, CommonSpirit Health and St. Joseph's Medical Center have had a profound impact on both financial and quality measures at San Joaquin General Hospital," said BJ Predum, Market President of Dignity Health Central Valley. "By improving and standardizing processes, I am proud of all that we have accomplished together to enhance the health and well being of the San Joaquin County community." Added Paul Canepa, Chair of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, "Since the agreement began, the hospital has made great progress in improving patient care and its finances. We're excited to keep working together to build a strong, unified healthcare system that provides excellent care to everyone—no matter their ability to pay."
