With more than half its staff psychiatric positions now vacant, Santa Barbara County’s Department of Behavioral Wellness sought — and got — permission from the county supervisors to pay $90,000 signing bonuses to attract new psychiatrists to sign on with the county. Translated into strictly full-time positions, that equates to vacancies in nine out of 13 budgeted positions. The supervisors also voted to increase the pay for staff psychiatrists by 8 percent. This brings the base salary from $285,000 to $295,000. Since 2015, the department has been authorized to pay bonuses of $75,000, but that has not proved persuasive.
The challenge of hiring and retaining high-level medical talent is not unique to Behavioral Wellness. At the county’s Public Health Department, there are five staff physician vacancies; one had been vacant for more than a year.
The funding was approved administratively — meaning there was no board discussion or public comment. Bottom line? The supervisors approved spending up to $1.1 million in signing bonuses over the next year for the two departments. Of that, new physicians will be eligible for the $90,000 bonus, and health care practitioners $50,000.