COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

San Mateo Medical Center

DATE:

March 22, 2007

BOARD MEETING DATE:

April 10, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Nancy J. Steiger, Chief Executive Officer, San Mateo Medical Center

SUBJECT:

Agreements with Asereth Medical Services, Inc.; Nor-Cal Medical Temps; and ScriptSTAT

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution authorizing:

1)

the President of the Board to execute Agreements with Asereth Medical Services, Inc., Nor-Cal Medical Temps, and ScriptSTAT to provide temporary pharmacy staffing for the term April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2010, in a total aggregate amount for all contracts not to exceed $150,000.

2)

the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) or the CEO's designee to execute contract amendments which modify the County's maximum fiscal obligation by no more than $25,000 (in aggregate), and/or modify the contract term and/or services so long as the modified term or services is/are within the current or revised aggregate fiscal obligation for the Agreements.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Ensure Basic Health and Safety for All

Goal 5: Residents have access to healthcare and preventive care.

The Agreements contribute to this commitment and goal by allowing SMMC to continue to providing pharmacy coverage at all times.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2006-07
Actual

FY2007-08

Projected

FY 2008-09
Projected

Pharmacist vacancy rate

23%

23%

23%

BACKGROUND:

SMMC uses pharmacy registries to augment permanent pharmacy staff. Registries are used to fill vacancies, and as substitutes in the event of employee illnesses and extended leaves of absences.

DISCUSSION:

Due to the difficulty in filling pharmacist and pharmacy technician vacancies, SMMC relies on temporary staffing agencies to augment the pharmacy staff. Having an adequate number of competent professionals upon which to call allows the Medical Center to ensure safe and accurate dispensing of medication to its patients.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) for temporary pharmacy staffing was conducted in December of 2006. A total of 5 proposals were received as a result of the mailing to local and national staffing agencies. Careful reviews of the proposals were conducted that included interviews with key people from each of the staffing agencies.

The decision to contract with three of the five agencies was based on:

• A history of working with Nor-Cal;

• The current Pharmacy Director’s experience working with Asereth;

• Adding ScriptSTAT as a backup agency in the event staffing cannot be obtained from the other 2 agencies;

• Reputation of the agencies and positive references.

The Agreement includes all provisions that are required by county ordinance and administrative memoranda, including, but not limited to, insurance, hold harmless, non-discrimination, equal benefits and jury service policy.

County Counsel and Risk Management have reviewed and approved these agreements.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The term of the three Agreements is from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2010. The maximum amount the County shall be obligated to pay collectively under the agreements is $150,000. Funds to cover this cost have been included in SMMC’s Recommended Budget for FY2006-07. Funds will be included in SMMC’s future budget requests.

1.

General Description of RFP

RFP to provide temporary pharmacists and technicians to work in the pharmacy department of San Mateo Medical Center.

2.

List key evaluation criteria

• Valid license in good standing in California

• Adequate professional liability insurance

• Competent to work in a high volume retain environment

• Competent to work in a hospital setting

• Competent in all privacy and pharmacy regulations

3.

Where advertised

Direct mail to staffing agencies.

4.

In addition to any advertisement, list others to whom RFP was sent

• Asereth Medical Staffing

• MSN Staffing

• Nor-Cal Staffing

• Pharmacy Placement Professionals

• ScriptSTAT

5.

Total number sent to prospective proposers

5

6.

Number of proposals received

5

7.

Who evaluated the proposals

Pharmacy Director

8.

In alphabetical order, names of proposers (or finalists, if applicable) and location

Asereth Medical Staffing

257 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Ste 100

Pasadena, CA 91105

MSN Medical Staffing Network

4525 Weaver Parkway, Ste 310

Warrenville, IL 60555

Nor-Cal Medical Temps

P.O. Box 736

Tiburon, CA 94920

Pharmacy Placement Professionals

4220 S. Maryland Parkway, Ste 207

Las Vegas, Nevada 89119

ScriptSTAT

2410 Russell St., Suite C

Berkeley, CA 94705