The supervisors delayed a decision about whether to approve a contract to outsource Public Health’s laboratory services to Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories, voting to take up the discussion at the upcoming budget hearings. The contract — up to $400,000 and through June 2017 — would replace the services performed at Santa Maria and Santa Barbara labs and help save Public Health, which is set to lose $7.3 million in state funds due to projected health-care-act revenues, more than $1 million per year. The contract would result in 15 positions being cut.
