REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 24, 2024
FROM
ANDREW GOLDFRACH, ARMC Chief Executive Officer, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Designating the ARMC Chief Executive Officer as a Signing Official with the eRA Commons Online Interface for National Institutes of Health Grants
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Authorize the designation of the ARMC Chief Executive Officer as a Signing Official, with signatory authority to legally bind the County, as it relates to grant administration purposes for the eRA Commons Online Portal.
2. Direct the ARMC Chief Executive Officer to comply with County policies relating to the submission of grant applications when submitting to the National Institutes of Health eRA Commons Online Portal and the acceptance of any such grants.
(Presenter: Andrew Goldfrach, ARMC Chief Executive 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) as the recommended action is non-financial in nature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The United States Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires entities that may seek grant funding opportunities through the NIH to sign up for an account on the eRA Commons (Commons) Online Portal to submit grant applications and to conduct other grant administration activities, including but not limited to, submitting data, progress/final reports, and assigning specific grant module roles to staff overseeing those grant responsibilities. The NIH requires that the individual who signs up for the account on behalf of an entity be designated as a Signing Official who has the authority to legally bind the entity for NIH grant funding purposes.
For an individual to be designated as a Signing Official of an entity for purposes of a Commons account, the individual must be the President, Chief Executive Officer, or Executive Director of the entity and the individual is required to submit a letter to Commons indicating that the individual has the legal authority to bind the entity as it pertains to grant funding.
At present, ARMC does not have any NIH grants but hopes to be able to apply for, and eventually secure, NIH research grants. One of the factors that accreditation bodies consider when evaluating a hospital for accreditation is whether an institution conducts scientific research. Since ARMC conducts scientific research, this makes it a good candidate for NIH research grants in the future.
Approval of Recommendation No. 1 will designate the ARMC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as a Signing Official with signatory authority to legally bind the County as it relates to grant administration purposes for the eRA Commons Online Portal. This will enable ARMC to submit the letter to Commons, which is required to have an account on the Commons Online Portal.
Approval of Recommendation No. 2 will direct the ARMC CEO to comply with the County’s policies relating to grant applications and grant awards. This means that if ARMC identifies a potential NIH grant opportunity, ARMC will continue to obtain the approval of the County Chief Executive Officer or the Board of Supervisors (Board) (where applicable) prior to submitting a grant application, as required under County Policy No. 05-13 and Standard Practice 05-13 SP1. Additionally, if NIH decides to issue a grant award to ARMC, ARMC will obtain the approval of the Board to accept the grant award in compliance with the foregoing policy/standard practice.
ARMC recommends the approval of this item to provide for the safety, health and social service needs of County residents by allowing ARMC to be able to identify NIH grant opportunities, which will provide critical resources to facilitate new knowledge and techniques through research that will benefit the patients of ARMC and enable ARMC to comply with accreditation requirements.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Charles Phan, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387- 5455) on August 14, 2024; Purchasing (Veronica Pedace, Buyer III, 387-2464) on August 20, 2024; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Finance and Budget Officer, 580-3165) on August 29, 2024; Finance (Jenny Yang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4884) on August 29, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387- 5423) on August 29, 2024.