REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 1, 2022
FROM
JOSHUA DUGAS, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT
Title
Purchase of Unbudgeted Fixed Asset of a ThermoScientific KingFisher Apex Purification System
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve purchase of a ThermoScientific KingFisher Apex Purification System, an unbudgeted fixed asset, from Fisher Healthcare, in the amount of $80,346.
(Presenter: Joshua Dugas, Director, 387-9146)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The cost of $80,346 for the ThermoScientific KingFisher Apex Purification System is eligible for reimbursement through COVID-19 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Enhancing Detection Expansion Funding. The necessary budget adjustments to the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) 2021-22 budget have been processed, utilizing authority granted to the County Chief Executive Officer (CEO), following approval of a Transfer of Appropriation on November 23, 2021. No additional budget adjustments are necessary.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The ThermoScientific KingFisher Apex Purification System (KingFisher Apex) is a versatile instrument that automatically processes up to 96 samples for the purification or isolation of nucleic acids and other materials. DPH Laboratory staff will utilize the KingFisher Apex instrument as part of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of SARS-CoV-2 for epidemiological surveillance of viral genotype variants in both clinical and environmental (wastewater) samples. In addition, the instrument will be used for the identification and genotyping of other pathogenic organisms critical to public health surveillance. Due to the continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic, DPH has an immediate need to purchase up-to-date, automated systems to quickly and efficiently identify infectious agents.
DPH Laboratory staff currently identifies infectious agents using outdated labor-intensive technologies including identification methods that will be discontinued in the next year. Methods presently utilized by the DPH Laboratory have a high supply cost and may take days to weeks to finalize. These delays affect patient care and rapid response to public health emergencies.
On April 6, 2021 (Item No.32), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved allocations from California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in ELC Enhancing Detection funding, in a combined amount of $114,268,786. The purpose of this funding to local health jurisdictions is to support ELC’s six strategies that include: 1) enhancing laboratory, surveillance, informatics and other workforce capacity; 2) strengthening laboratory testing; 3) advancing electronic data exchange at Public Health labs; 4) improving surveillance and reporting of Electronic Health Data; 5) using laboratory data to enhance investigation, response and prevention; and 6) coordinating/engaging partners to improve the infrastructure at the County’s Public Health Laboratory.
On September 28, 2021, DPH submitted a purchase proposal for the KingFisher Apex instrument to CDPH for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approval.
On November 23, 2021, utilizing the authority granted by the Board due to the COVID-19 emergency, the CEO approved a Transfer of Appropriation and the purchase of a Bruker MALDI Biotyper sirius CA System, an unbudgeted fixed asset. At that time, DPH was not aware that the purchase of the KingFisher Apex instrument was not included in the CEO’s approval of the two actions referenced above, and subsequently did not receive all necessary approvals for this particular unbudgeted fixed asset.
As a result of this misunderstanding, DPH established a purchase order for the KingFisher Apex instrument following approval by the CDPH and CDC on December 21, 2021, and received delivery of the instrument on January 20, 2022. DPH will ensure future purchases of unbudgeted fixed assets obtain the required levels of approval prior to acquisition, as well as adherence to all applicable policies and procedures.
PROCUREMENT
The purchase of the KingFisher Apex instrument supports the ELC Enhancing Detection Expansion work plan to strengthen laboratory testing by establishing and expanding capacity to quickly, accurately and safely test for SARS-CoV-2 and build infectious disease preparedness for future coronavirus and other events involving other pathogens with potential for broad community spread. Purchasing concurs with the non-competitive purchase of the KingFisher Apex instrument from Fisher Healthcare with a justification of timing constraint.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Adam Ebright, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 17, 2022; Purchasing (Bruce Cole, Supervising Buyer, 387-2148) on February 17, 2022; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on February 17, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on February 17, 2022.