To: Board of Supervisors
From: Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Report Title: Amendment #23-457-21 with Health Care Interpreter Network
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Health Services Director, or designee, to execute on behalf of the County Contract Amendment #23-457-21 with Health Care Interpreter Network, a non-profit corporation, effective May 15, 2024, to amend Contract 23-457-19, to increase the payment limit by $1,800,000, from $1,577,500 to $3,377,500 for additional healthcare interpretation services to the Department on the Healthcare Interpreter Network System, with no change in the original term of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approval of this Amendment will result in additional expenditures of up to $1,800,000 over a two-year period and will be funded 100% by Hospital Enterprise Fund I. (No rate increase)
BACKGROUND:
Individuals with limited English proficiency are at risk of receiving lower quality health treatment because of language barriers. When an interpreter is not readily available patients may rely on family members, even children, to interpret health treatment instructions. California law has required hospitals to provide language assistance since 1990. The Healthcare Interpreter Network’s system allows physicians at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Contra Costa Health Centers, Contra Costa Health Plan Network providers and partner health systems nationwide to use a software program to route calls to a video conferencing device mounted in exam rooms, allowing qualified in-house medical interpreters and interpreters at other hospitals or remote locations to be connection within seconds to a patient. The average interpreter request response time is eleven seconds. The County has contracted with Healthcare Interpreter Network for these services since April 1, 2009 when it was launched as a partnership with two other counties. This contract is entered into under and subject to the following legal authorities: California Government Code § 31000. Health Services Personnel approved this contract to ensure no conflicts with labor relations.
On June 27, 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved Contract #23-457-19 with Health Care Interpreter Network, in an amount not to exceed $1,577,500 for the provision of qualified foreign language and sign language interpretation services via video conferencing, for the period July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
Approval of Amendment #23-457-21 will allow the Contractor to provide additional healthcare interpretation services, through June 30, 2025.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this Amendment is not approved, County will not be able to schedule translation appointments to ensure the translator is available at a specific time.