REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
April 7, 2020
FROM
WILLIAM L. GILBERT, Director, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title v
Extend Contract and increase total contract amount with Language Services Associates for Interpretive Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Authorize the Purchasing Agent to execute Amendment No. 2 for Contract No. 4400006746 with Language Services Associates to extend the termination date from April 30, 2020 to April 30, 2021, for a total period of June 2, 2015 through April 30, 2021, for Interpretive Services and increase the total contract amount by $350,000 from $1,900,000 to $2,250,000.
(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 the recommended extension and increased total contract amount with Language Services Associates (LSA) will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as total associated cost of $2,250,000 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. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) 2019-20 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Approval of the Amendment No. 2 with LSA will ensure that county residents receiving healthcare services at ARMC will have access to language interpretive services to understand and participate in their care. ARMC utilizes LSA to provide patients with timely access to medically qualified translators through telephonic translation and Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) for Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations, face-to-face interpretation, and Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Per California Health and Safety Code 1259, when a language or communication barrier exists between patients and medical staff, arrangements shall be made for interpreters or bilingual professionals to ensure adequate and competent communication between patients and staff. Additionally, hospitals are required to provide interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing population of patients in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
It is critical to ensure that Medically Qualified Interpreters are available to patients and families. Use of individuals who are not trained interpreters with understanding of medical terminology, can lead to medication errors, wrong procedures, avoidable readmissions and other adverse events. ARMC recommends approval of the contract extension to ensure that County residents served at the hospital continue to have medically qualified interpreters.
Amendment No. 2 is in the form of the Vizient - LSA Member Agreement Letter, which does not contain the standard County contract terms and conditions applicable to purchase orders. ARMC recommends approval of the contract extension as the contract will ensure that professional language interpretive services remain available to assist in the communication between patients and staff.
PROCUREMENT
This continues to be a competitive procurement based on the existing Vizient Supplier Services Agreement No. SV0920-2014 with LSA, effective through April 30, 2021. ARMC is seeking a one-year extension to the existing SAP Contract No. 4400006746 to end coterminously with the Vizient agreement. The extension will allow time for a RFP to be issued for interpretive services.
On June 2, 2015 (Item No. 13), the Board of Supervisors authorized the Purchasing Agent to issue a Master Blanket Purchase Order No. 153641 for telephonic translation and video relay interpretation services in the amount of $125,000 for the period of June 2, 2015 through April 30, 2017.
On March 1, 2016, (Item No. 9), the Board of Supervisors authorized the Purchasing Agent to increase the Master Blanket Purchase Order No. 153641 by $105,000 from $125,000 to $230,000 with no change to the expiration date of April 30, 2017.
On May 24, 2016 (Item No. 12), the Board authorized the Purchasing Agent to increase Master Blanket Purchase Order No. 153641 with LSA by $470,000 from $230,000 to $700,000 with no change to the expiration date of April 30, 2017.
On April 4, 2017 (Item No. 5), the Board of Supervisors authorized the Purchasing Agent to increase Master Blanket Purchase Order No. 153641 by $1,200,000 from $700,000 to $1,900,000 and extend the expiration date from April 30, 2017 to April 30, 2020 using an Amendment No. 1 to be executed by the Purchasing Agent.
With the county’s migration from ePro to SAP for fiscal services in 2017-18, the Master Blanket Purchase Order was given SAP Contract No. 4400006746.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Fiona Luke, County Counsel, 387-4609) on March 20, 2020; Purchasing Department (Jackie Ambrose, Lead Buyer, 387-2060) on March 16, 2020. Finance (Amanda Trussell, Principal Administrative Analyst, 387-4773) on March 23, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on March 23, 2020.