REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 25, 2025
FROM
ANDREW GOLDFRACH, ARMC Chief Executive Officer, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Agreement with CalStar Air Medical Services LLC for Patient Transfer Call Center Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 24-277 with CalStar Air Medical Services LLC, for patient transfer call center services, to increase the not to exceed contract amount by $1,000,000, from $1,000,000 to an amount not-to-exceed $2,000,000, and to extend the term by one year, for a new total term of May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2026.
(Presenter: Nanette Buenavidez, ARMC Chief Operating Officer, 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 additional cost of $1,000,000 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) 2024-25 budget and will be included in the 2025-26 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amendment No. 1 (Amendment) to Agreement No. 24-277 (Agreement) will allow ARMC to continue to use CalStar Air Medical Services LLC (Calstar) to provide patient transfer coordination services to ARMC. CalStar’s All Access Transfer Center is a one-call patient transfer call center that does not pass calls to another source. As a one-call transfer center, CalStar finds the physician for the patient, the bed for the patient, connects physicians providing care for the patient, arranges patient transport via ground and air, and tracks the patient through arrival at the designated destination. Use of CalStar also streamlines the transfer process for patients that need to be transferred to ARMC from other surrounding hospitals or transferred out to another hospital. Extending the term of the Agreement by one year will allow additional time for a competitive solicitation process to be completed.
On March 26, 2024 (Item No. 13), as the result of a non-competitive procurement, the Board of Supervisors approved the Agreement with CalStar for patient transfer call center services in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 for the term of May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025.
On October 17, 2024, Request for Proposal (RFP) No. ARMC125-ARMC-5570 was released and posted on the County’s Electronic Procurement Network (ePro) to procure patient transfer call center services for ARMC. The RFP failed to attract enough qualified proposers to meet the needs of ARMC, and as a result, the RFP was canceled.
On November 21, 2024, RFP No. ARMC125-ARMC-5678 was released and posted on ePro to procure patient transfer call center services for ARMC. The Amendment will allow Calstar to continue providing these services and give ARMC time to complete the RFP process to establish a new five-year agreement.
ARMC recommends approval of this Amendment to provide for the safety and health needs of County residents by ensuring continuity of patient referral and transfer services during the pendency of the competitive procurement for a new agreement.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Charles Phan, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 14, 2025; Purchasing (Veronica Pedace, Buyer III, 387-2464) on February 25, 2025; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Finance Budget Officer, 580-3165) on February 28, 2025; Finance (Jenny Yang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4884) on March 3, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on February March 6, 2025.