DATE: October 22, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Retroactive Agreement with Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Under Administrative Policy No. 34 for competitive bids or requests for proposals (AP 34), determine that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement under AP 34 is satisfied and a suspension of competition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, and that the best interests of the County would be served by entering into an agreement with Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) as EOC through their LGBTQ+ Resource Center and Health Services clinic are the only vendor able to fulfill all needed services at once for this contract to the community; and,
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive Agreement with EOC to provide outreach, health education, screenings, and treatments for communicable diseases to the Fresno County communities most at-risk, effective October 1, 2024, not to exceed four years and nine months, which includes a two year and nine-month base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $1,500,000.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will allow Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) to continue assisting Fresno County in providing outreach, health education, screening, and treatment for various communicable diseases to the County’s vulnerable populations. EOC is a trusted agency amongst the County’s population and continue to support the community as needed. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. Should your Board elect not to approve the recommended actions, EOC will not be able to continue providing communicable disease outreach, education, screening, and treatment to the County’s vulnerable populations, reducing the available services to vulnerable and high-risk populations.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
It is requested that the County find under AP 34 that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement is satisfied, and a suspension of competition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, as EOC has demonstrated its ability to be a reliable partner for the County through the services that were provided under Agreements No. A-22-432 and No. A-23-172. EOC provided outreach, health education, screening, treatment, and vaccinations for communicable diseases including MPOX for Fresno County from September 20, 2022 through May 31, 2024. EOC through their LGBTQ+ Resource Center and Health Services clinic remains the only vendor able to provide the services of outreach, health education, screening, and treatment for communicable diseases to the community all at once. The Internal Service Department - Purchasing Department concurs with the Department’s assessment that this satisfies the exception to the competitive bidding process required by AP 34.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The recommended agreement is retroactive to October 1, 2024. EOC was previously providing services under Agreement No. A-23-172 which expired on May 31, 2024. Based on the demand for communicable disease services among the County’s vulnerable high-risk populations, the Department determined there was still a need for the services being provided. Due to the Avian Flu and the potential for positive MPOX cases the Department worked with EOC to revise and expand the scope of work to ensure the Department can deal with any diseases without delay should they appear within the community. Service demand for outreach, education, screening, and treatment of communicable diseases has created a need for services back to October 1, 2024. This item being brought to the Board is a retroactive action to cover services rendered.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The agreement is funded by State grants, including the STD Core and Collaborative, Hepatitis C Prevention and Collaboration, Syphilis Outbreak Strategy grants. The maximum payable under this contract is $1,500,000. Sufficient appropriations are included in the Department’s Org 5620 FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The State of California is currently facing epidemics of HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), among other communicable diseases like the return of MPOX. This syndemic of diseases necessitates a need for outreach, education, screening, and treatment for these diseases in the community, particularly among the County’s vulnerable high-risk populations. Having in place the foundation for a quick response to a potential outbreak of other communicable diseases is also needed with diseases like MPOX spreading elsewhere in the world.
The LGBTQ community is currently identified as one of the high-risk populations for communicable diseases. EOC has an LGBTQ resource center that provides STI clinical services and the EOC infrastructure around this high-risk population which allows them to be an excellent resource for screening and treatment services. These services have the potential to significantly mitigate the spread of communicable diseases in the community.
Approval of the recommended actions will allow EOC to provide outreach, education, screening, and treatment for numerous communicable diseases and will allow them to be at the ready to assist the Department with vaccinations or addressing other needs in case of a potential outbreak. The County and EOC will work together to assure the maximization of resources and meeting expected goals.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #41, April 11, 2023
BAI #34 September 20, 2022
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Suspension of Competition Acquisition Request
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission
On file with Clerk - Digital Signature Audit Report
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander