REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 28, 2023
FROM
WILLIAM L. GILBERT, Director Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Agreement with Peter J. Leeson, D.O., Inc. for Professional Healthcare Consulting Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 21-54 with Peter J. Leeson, D.O., Inc. for professional healthcare consulting services, increasing the not-to-exceed contract amount by $300,000, from $5,750,000 to $6,050,000, with no change to the contract term of March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2026.
(Presenter: William L. Gilbert, Director, 580-6150)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
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) as the additional cost of $300,000 is funded through the Providing Access and Transforming Health Supports, Justice Involved Capacity Building Grant (PATH Justice Involved Grant), Round 1. The grant was accepted by the Board of Supervisors (Board) on October 25, 2022 (Item No. 86) and will be transferred to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) to cover the additional expense associated with the consultation services. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the ARMC 2022-23 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended amendment provides $300,000 in funding from the PATH Justice Involved Grant available from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) associated with the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative. The County was awarded this grant of $300,000 for a consultant to aid in identifying processes, protocols and information technology modifications needed to improve access and quality of health care for justice-involved populations who are nearing release from incarceration. This increase in funding will allow staff employed by Peter J. Leeson, D.O., Inc. (Leeson) to work with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) to provide professional healthcare consulting services to address mandates for implementation of a pre-release Medi-Cal application process, and to transition individuals out of incarceration while maintaining a continuity of care.
Leeson staff will prepare the primary deliverable, which will include a Gap Analysis and Readiness Assessment, and preparation of the Round 2 grant application. Leeson and his staff have specialized credentials, unique expertise, along with skills and training, which help address the County’s healthcare goals. Leeson has been advising the County (through ARMC) and the affected departments on the overall CalAIM initiatives for the past two years.
CalAIM seeks to reform the delivery and payment for services of the Medi-Cal program, by enabling providers to offer more complete care coordination and healthcare management than is possible through a fee-for-service system. It also provides a wider range of services designed to stabilize and support the lives of Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Funding from the PATH Justice Involved Grant supports planning between county correctional agencies and departments to identify and improve processes to streamline Medi-Cal applications and continuity of care involving justice-involved populations.
Leeson and his staff worked with SBSD for Round 1 of the PATH Justice Involved Grant and will continue to provide planning and healthcare consulting services to apply for and secure Round 2 funding intended for process implementation.
On January 26, 2021 (Item No. 13), the Board approved Agreement No. 21-54 with Leeson to provide professional healthcare consulting services, in the not-to-exceed amount of $5,750,000, with a contract term of March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2026. Leeson has been instrumental in assisting ARMC in developing and maintaining strategic plans, along with making sure ARMC meets all federal, state, and local healthcare mandates.
Leeson and his staff are uniquely qualified to assist with Medical Staff Peer Review, Medical Staff Policies and Procedures, Medical Staff issues, and adherence to healthcare guidelines. In addition, Leeson and his staff continue to provide insight and guidance, under the existing contract, to ARMC administration to stay prepared to provide the best services in an everchanging healthcare market.
ARMC recommends approval of this amendment to allow Leeson and his staff to provide SBSD assistance to meet and expand Medi-Cal processes under the PATH Justice Involved Grant. This will allow ARMC and SBSD to operate in a fiscally-responsible and business-like manner and provide for the safety, health and social services needs of County residents by ensuring compliance with healthcare mandates, resulting in continued provision of quality healthcare to justice involved populations.
PROCUREMENT
This amendment is based on a non-competitive procurement of services from Dr. Leeson as he and his staff have specialized credentials, unique expertise, skillset, and training based on the County’s specific needs. Dr. Leeson offers experience as a past Joint Commission (JC) faculty member who taught classes in JC standards, experience as a consultant to more than 125 different healthcare organizations nationwide, as well as quality improvement and peer review consultant for the California Medical Association Institute for Medical Quality. Leeson and his staff provided direct assistance and support to ensure the successful application for the Round 1 PATH Justice Involved Grant. The Purchasing Department confirmed that this service is non-competitive based on specialized credentials, expertise, and training, and continues to support the procurement of these services from Dr. Leeson.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Charles Phan, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 16, 2023; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Buyer, 777-0722) on February 16, 2023; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Finance and Budget Officer, 580-3165) on March 13, 2023; Finance (Jenny Yang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4884) on February 23; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on February 24, 2023.