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About 500 Pima County caregivers must look for a new employer — but they'll be doing the same jobs.

Pima County is cutting their positions at Pima Health System as it privatizes some home-health support services.

About 75 percent of the home-care attendants count a relative as a client, said Joann Siemsen, Pima Health System spokeswoman.

Pima Health System is a non-profit arm of Pima County that contracts with the state to provide health-care services to clients of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state Medicaid program.

Pima County started subcontracting with local home-care service agencies in 2002 and now will contract all of those services to 19 local agencies, Siemsen said.

The goal is to keep the caregiver-client pair together by holding job fairs to match workers with independent agencies that are willing to meet the workers' needs in order to hire a trained and qualified person, she said.

Under that scenario, no one will have to be laid off, and there is no deadline set for workers to make the change, she said. About 10 attendant-care workers in Ajo will continue to work for Pima Health System because it is the only provider in the area.

The workers likely will be paid more and receive benefits, which weren't part of their contracts with the county. Independent agencies can pay more because "they're very competitive and very much want to retain their workers," Siemsen said.

The attendant caregivers were among Pima County employees who voted to join Service Employees International Union Local 5 in April.

Union organizer Evelina Marquez, a former case manager for Pima Health System, said the union is talking with members about their concerns. SEIU intended to ask the county for a raise for caregivers in its first round of meetings under a new meet-and-confer ordinance next year.

Siemsen said county officials talked with the union about the job cuts.

Find more local workplace news at www.AzStarBiz.com.