REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
December 5, 2023
FROM
WILLIAM L. GILBERT, Director, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Master Agreement with Translogic Corporation, DBA Swisslog Healthcare Solutions for Refurbishment and Technical Support of Outpatient Pharmacy System
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 3 to Master Agreement No. 18-844 with Translogic Corporation, dba Swisslog Healthcare Solutions, for a new refurbishment and associated technical support of the outpatient pharmacy system, increasing the contract amount by $276,759, from $38,852 to $315,611, and extending the term by four-years for a total term of December 15, 2018 through December 14, 2028.
(Presenter: William L. Gilbert, Director, 580-6150)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The cost of $276,759 is funded by State Medi-Cal, Federal Medicare, private insurances, and other departmental revenue. Funding sources may change in the future pending any legislative activity related to the repeal and/or replacement of the Affordable Care Act. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) 2023-24 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended amendment to Master Agreement No. 18-844 (Master Agreement) with Translogic Corporation, dba Swisslog Healthcare Solutions (Swisslog) will allow for the new refurbishment and associated technical support of ARMC’s outpatient pharmacy system. The system includes software for AutoCarousel (a medication storage and retrieval system), a Packager (to package the medications), and AutoLabel (to label the medication). The AutoCarousel, Packager and AutoLabel software together comprise the hospital’s outpatient automated pharmacy storage and retrieval system, which is used by the County’s correctional facilities.
The Swisslog outpatient pharmacy system was implemented in 2006, as part of a collaborative project that involved ARMC, Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator and the Probation Department. The project put in place dispensing stations that allow ARMC pharmacists to remotely review and approve prescriptions for inmates so that nurses can obtain patient-specific medications on demand. The outpatient dispensing system provides a reduction in waste and improved efficiency in distribution of medications to inmates, which in turn, reduces overall costs to the County correctional facilities.
The refurbishment of the AutoCarousel will consist of a mechanical rebuild of the equipment as well as replacement of the electrical controls. The technical support includes software maintenance of the Swisslog Pharmacy Automation Software.
On December 4, 2018 (Item No. 19), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the non-financial Master Agreement with Swisslog for purchase and service terms related to the Swisslog automated pharmacy dispensing system, for the five-year period of December 15, 2018 through December 14, 2023. Item No. 19 also included the approval of Agreement No. 18-843 for ongoing technical support for the outpatient automated pharmacy system in the amount of $48,305 for the one-year period of December 18, 2018 through December 17, 2019. On August 25, 2020 (Item No. 5), Agreement No. 18-843 was subsequently extended to December 14, 2023.
On March 23, 2021 (Item No. 10), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to the Master Agreement with Swisslog for the interface migration to the Epic Electronic Health Record, for one-time implementation costs of $38,852, with no change to the agreement period of December 15, 2018 through December 14, 2023.
On October 26, 2021 (Item No. 8), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to the Master Agreement with Swisslog to add fiscal provisions with a new contract cost of $38,852, as approved by the Board on March 23, 2021, and extending the term by one-year for the term of December 15, 2018 through December 14, 2024.
Amendment No. 3 adds an outpatient AutoCarousel refurbishment and the associated ongoing technical support for the outpatient automated pharmacy system to the Master Agreement. The terms of this amendment for ongoing technical support will terminate and replace Agreement No. 18-843.
ARMC recommends approval of the third amendment with Swisslog for the safety, health and social service needs of County residents by providing efficient, safe and timely distribution of medications to inmates.
PROCUREMENT
The Purchasing Department supports this non-competitive procurement due to time constraints as the procurement for a new outpatient pharmacy system would be a Capital Improvement Project involving construction and requiring collaboration between various County departments just as the initial project did in 2006. ARMC cannot complete a project of that magnitude before the expiration of the current contract and so is requesting a term extension. Amendment No. 3, which extends the Master Agreement by five years, will provide time to plan and implement a project, including vendor procurement and construction, for a new outpatient dispensing system.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Bonnie Uphold, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 7, 2023; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Supervising Buyer, 386-8046) on November 8, 2023; Finance (Chen Wu, Finance and Budget Officer, 580-3165) on November 13, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on November 15, 2023.