Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Srija Srinivasan, Acting Director, San Mateo County Health
Subject: Acceptance of the Grant from the California Department of Public Health Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Program for the Response to COVID-19
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Recommendation to:
A) Adopt a resolution authorizing and directing the Chief of San Mateo County Health, or designee, to accept a grant award from the California Department of Public Health Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for the term of May 18, 2020 through July 31, 2023 in an amount not to exceed $31,562,003; and
B) Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) in the amount of $5,066,547 recognizing unanticipated revenue for Public Health, Policy and Planning, within budget subunit 5550B, for unanticipated COVID-19 funding.
body
BACKGROUND:
San Mateo County Public Health Policy and Planning (PHPP) has received two phases of federal Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) funding from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) for response to COVID-19 and capacity building within Public Health to mitigate future pandemic needs. ELC Phase I, Enhanced Detection, has been awarded for the term of May 18, 2020 through November 17, 2022, in an amount not to exceed $6,248,291. ELC Phase II, Expanded, has been awarded for the term of January 15, 2021 through July 31, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $25,313,712.
CDPH has disseminated this funding across local health departments to support a broad range of critical COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and surveillance-related activities, including the modernization of Public Health systems. Funds will support the PHPP response to COVID-19 and lay the foundation for the future of Public Health surveillance.
DISCUSSION:
In response to the immediate needs of the COVID-19 pandemic, PHPP presented an initial contact tracing and surveillance staffing plan to the Board of Supervisors on June 23, 2020. As part of this plan, PHPP included $1,500,000 of ELC Phase I funds in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget. In January 2021, CDPH announced the release of Phase II, recognizing the need for a larger, longer-term investment in the original six strategies presented in ELC Phase I, as well as additional areas of infrastructure capacity-building, such as Public Health Laboratory sequencing technology.
As of March 2021, PHPP is assuming fiscal responsibility for countywide testing contracts, costs associated with contact tracers from other, non-general fund departments and overtime, and extended contracted contact tracing and other expenses associated with COVID-19 response and infrastructure needs. To fund these efforts, PHPP projects a need to include an additional $5,066,547 to adequately manage resources for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The attached Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizes the amount of ELC funds necessary in FY 2020-21 to cover surge staffing in the Public Health Communicable Disease, Public Health Lab, Epidemiology, and Finance and Administration teams, contracts, and costs to support those staff, as well as for the Public Health testing supplies and systems.
While CDPH has not requested a signed contract, we anticipate there may be some documentation required to accept the funding and hereby request that the Chief of San Mateo County Health or designee be authorized to execute any all documents required by CDPH to accept these funds.
The resolution has been reviewed and approved by County Counsel as to form.
It is anticipated that the County will need approximately 35 FTE staff to build an appropriate level of Epidemiological, Laboratory, and Communicable Disease capacity.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2020-21 Estimated |
FY 2021-22 Projected |
|
Number of FTE dedicated to building an appropriate level of Epidemiological Laboratory and Communicable Disease capacity |
0 FTE |
35 FTE |
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of ELC Phase I is May 18, 2020 through November 17, 2022, in an amount not to exceed $6,248,291 and the term of ELC Phase II is January 15, 2021 through July 31, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $25,313,712. The amount of the agreement is not to exceed $31,562,003 for the three-year term. This ATR increases the budget in PHPP subunit 5550B by $5,066,547. The balance of the funds is included in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget and the FY 2021-23 Recommended Budget. This ATR is 100% funded by the ELC funds from CDPH. Since the County is receiving these funds and no matching funds are required, there is no Net County Cost associated with this grant.