DATE: June 18, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Retroactive Agreement with Insure America Project
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 Insure America Project (IAP) as IAP has been providing communicable disease outreach services to the Fresno County agricultural community since May 1, 2021; and
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive Agreement with IAP to provide outreach, health education, personal protective equipment, and test kits for communicable diseases to the Fresno County agricultural community, effective April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2026, total not to exceed $330,400.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions will allow the County to continue partnering with Insure America Project (IAP) to assist Fresno County in providing outreach, health education, personal protective equipment (PPE), and test kits for various communicable diseases to the County’s agricultural community. Collaboration with IAP began during the emergency response phase of COVID-19. IAP is a trusted agency amongst the various agricultural businesses 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, the County will be unable to continue to partner with IAP to provide outreach, health education, PPE, and test kits for communicable diseases to the County’s agricultural community, reducing the available services to this population. Furthermore, the Department would need to work with the County’s Purchasing Division to figure out a path for reimbursement to IAP for services already provided.
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 IAP has demonstrated its ability to be a reliable partner for the County through the services that have been provided under Purchasing Agreement No. A-23-086. IAP has provided outreach to farmworkers on communicable diseases, and distributed thousands of PPE and COVID-19 tests to farmworkers throughout Fresno County for the last three years. The Department continues to work with various organizations with the goal of educating County residents on preventive measures, with a vaccine safety focus. Those other partner organizations include Community Based Organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and various other partners, including Nisei Farmers League. Continued focused education to the agricultural community is needed as the workforce is constantly shifting through various areas. IAP has proven itself to be flexible to and has a standing relationship within the farming community, which they will maintain to assure there is no duplication of efforts. 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 April 1, 2024. IAP was previously providing services under Agreement No. A-23-086 which expired on December 31, 2023. Based on the demand for communicable disease services among the County’s agricultural community, the Department determined there was still a need for the services being provided. The Department waited for confirmation on the extension of the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Enhancing Detection Expansion funds, and the details of that extension, before proceeding with starting a new contract to ensure that the Department had the necessary funding available. Service demand for outreach and education on communicable diseases like Valley Fever has created a need for services back to April 1, 2024. There are currently two pending invoices in the amount of $27,200. 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 the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Enhancing Detection Expansion funds and the Immunization Cooperative Agreement funding. The maximum payable under this contract is $330,400. Sufficient appropriations were included in the Department’s Organization 5620 FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The agricultural communities of the Central Valley remain an important population which are vulnerable to exposure through their work to numerous communicable diseases such as Valley Fever, Avian Flu, and COVID-19. The need for outreach, health education, awareness, and PPE at farmworker worksites and rural communities to protect them against communicable diseases remains an important need to aid these workers and communities. Continuing to use IAP will build on the successes already achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing the well-established connections between IAP and the population they serve to assist in protecting the County’s agricultural workers.
IAP has partnered with Fresno County since December 18, 2020 and has proven to be effective in assisting the agricultural community with access to COVID-19 resources. Over the past 42 months, IAP has provided outreach to an average of over 2,500 farmworkers and their families a month. They have also distributed tens of thousands of PPE and thousands of other supplies such as hand sanitizer and COVID-19 tests per month to farmworkers in the community.
Approval of the recommended actions will allow Fresno County’s partnership with IAP to continue with a focus on providing outreach, health education, PPE, and test kits for various communicable diseases such as Valley Fever, Avian Flu, and COVID-19 to the agricultural community through March 31, 2026. The County and IAP will continue to work together to assure the maximization of resources and the attainment of expected goals.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #46.1, February 28, 2023
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Suspension of Competition Acquisition Request
On file with Clerk - Agreement with IAP
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander