DATE: August 21, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Pomaville, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Affiliation Agreement with State Center Community College District
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a revenue Agreement with State Center Community College District, for student education and training in the Department of Public Health Emergency Medical Services Division’s Primary Paramedic Training Program, effective August 21, 2018 through June 30, 2021 ($270,000).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will continue the Department of Public Health Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division’s Primary Paramedic Training Program association with State Center Community College District (SCCCD) for three years. The proposed agreement allows the Department to receive reimbursement from SCCCD at a rate of $3.50 per student instructional hour, for each student attending the paramedic course, or approximately $90,000 annually. Each course has an average of 20 enrolled students. The Department benefits from the Program by adequately preparing students for licensure and employment as paramedics in the region. The courses provide lecture and both clinical and field internship hours funded with student tuition and revenue received from SCCCD, with no Net County Cost. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, the Department would not receive student instructional hour fees and students attending the paramedic course would not be eligible for college credit and access to Fresno City College student resources.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The recommended agreement maintains the SCCCD student instructional hourly rate at $3.50, payable to the Department to reimburse for the Primary Paramedic Training Course. Based on prior year enrollments, the Department estimates that revenue will total approximately $90,000 annually. The combination of this revenue and revenue received from tuition paid by paramedic students fully offsets the County’s costs for providing these courses, including the time period for the first course of this year not covered up to the effective date of the proposed agreement. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues have been included in the Department’s Org 5620 FY 2018-19 Recommended Budget and will be included in future budget requests for the duration of the term.
DISCUSSION:
The County’s Paramedic Training Program began in 1975. On January 8, 2002, the Board approved the original agreement with the SCCCD (Agt. No. 02-04), creating an affiliation between the Program and Fresno City College. The affiliation is beneficial to the County because it enables the Program to meet California’s minimum requirements for accreditation in accordance with the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program, provides college credits to the paramedic students, and allows student access to educational and financial assistance tools available at Fresno City College.
The payments per instructional hour would normally be paid by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to the SCCCD for course instructional costs. Since the EMS Division provides the instructors for the course, SCCCD pays the County $3.50 for each student instructional hour.
The EMS Division conducts two paramedic training courses each year and the length of each training course is approximately 11 months. Due to the delay by SCCCD in processing this Agreement, the first course has already begun as of July 9, 2018 Students in the Program are eligible for 36 college units. The Program includes 600 lecture hours, 200 clinical internship hours, and 480 field internship hours, which satisfy California Health and Safety Code and California Code of Regulations requirements in accordance with the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program. Each course averages 20 paramedic students.
The proposed three-year agreement can be terminated by either party with a 30-day notice and contains a mutual hold harmless clause. The agreement also contains a provision that each student enrolled in the Program shall present proof to the County of procuring and maintaining the stated insurance coverages during the course. The proposed agreement will be effective August 21, 2018 through June 30, 2021 and deviates from the County’s standard agreement of three-year base with two one-year extensions due to a request for a shorter term by SCCCD.
The proposed agreement is effective upon execution rather than being retroactive to July 1, 2018 due to a new policy that prevents SCCCD from entering into retroactive agreements. Due to the necessity of maintaining the July 9, 2018 start date for the course, the first weeks of classes are not covered by the terms of this Agreement. While the Department initiated contract negotiations in February 2018 by submitting an agreement that had been approved as to legal form by Counsel, the proposed agreement was not finalized by July 1, 2018 due to excessive delays in review and processing by SCCCD.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #49, July 12, 2016 - Agt. No. 16-438
BAI #19d, January 8, 2002
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with State Center Community College District
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa