Agenda - 12-10-2024; 8-f - Renewal of Health Services Agreement with Southern Health Partners for Medical Services at the Orange County Detention Center

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Southern Health s Partners October 29, 2024 Chief Deputy Tina Sykes Orange County Sheriff's Office 106 East Margaret Lane Hillsborough, NC 27278 Re: Health Services Agreement Dear Chief Deputy Sykes: Southern Health Partners (SHP) has been proudly partnering with Orange County for 15 years. We value our relationship with you and Orange County as a customer and are happy to collaborate with you on the cost of our program. We would like to thank you for taking the time to meet with SHP representatives, Wes Williamson and Litchard Hurley, to discuss the contract and SHP's offer to renew our contract with Orange County for the 2024-2025 period based on the following terms: 1. No change in rates under the existing contract terms for a period of four(4) months from July 1, 2024 through October 31, 2024. 2. 5% increase on the base fee rate and the per diem rate for the remaining eight (8) months of the 2024-2025 contract period,from November 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.This rate increase will help especially in the area of staffing as we've had to keep up with the current trend in nursing pay rates. We want you to be assured of our ongoing commitment to providing the best care and services for inmates at the Jail, by retaining quality staff members, as they are an investment in building a team that will have a favorable impact on the culture of the program. A major part of our operating budget consists of staffing but it is only a single component. The professional liability insurance is another single example of an expenditure we have truly little control over our cost increases, which continue to soar along with other costs of operating such as employee benefits and other lines of insurance coverage. 3. Effective November 1,2024,there will be a change to move the costs of medical supplies,over- the-counter medications and labs to the cost pool. With many of our older contracts, there is a need for restructuring along the same lines as how our newer contracts are priced considering the now-current industry standard. That is, with certain service items covered by SHP for inclusion in the cost pool, rather than under the base fees. For Orange County, NC's contract, we will need to shift the costs of medical supplies,over-the-counter medications and labs to the cost pool. Going forward under the new arrangement, the costs for medical supplies, over-the-counter medications and labs will still be paid for by SHP (with the County continuing to receive the benefit of SHP's bulk pricing discounts from our various vendors), but the amounts will be applied toward the cost pool accounting totals to accrue against the annual pool limitation. If the County were to exceed the annual cost pool limit for any given contract period,then SHP would, at that point, begin to seek reimbursement from the County for any costs in excess of the cost pool limit, as is done under our current normal practice. Costs for medical supplies, over-the-counter medications and labs have run approximately a total of$4,150.00 over the last twelve months. The total base contract price payable to SHP will be $423,169.12 for the full 12-month contract period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. mnmm�_ 2030 Hamilton Place Blvd,Ste.140 Chattanooga, 423.553.5635(phone)423.553.5645