DATE: July 5, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between the City of Hayward and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC) for a Lease to Operate the Firehouse Clinic (FHC) and to Appropriate the Rent from TVHC to CIP Project FD010 for Building Maintenance, Upgrades, and Improvements in Service Delivery
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC) for a lease to operate the Firehouse Clinic (FHC) and to appropriate the rent from TVHC to CIP Project FD010 for building maintenance, upgrades, improvements in service delivery as needed.
SUMMARY
In 2015, the City of Hayward entered into a partnership, via the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC) to operate the Firehouse Clinic located at 28300 Huntwood Avenue in South Hayward and adjacent to Fire Station 7.
TVHC was initially chosen as a partner in the FHC due to its status as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). This unique status includes Medicare patient service delivery and allows the FQHC the opportunity to seek and obtain full cost-recovery. Since the Firehouse Clinic's inception, TVHC has operated as a self-sustaining organization by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate medical, dental, and behavioral health services to under-insured residents.
TVHC has proven to be an exceptional and irreplaceable partner. The City intends to expand the partnership with TVHC to include Hayward's new HEART program to improve overall population health by focusing on the integrated whole-person healthcare model.
The MOU executed between the City of Hayward and TVHC ended in 2019 and as such, the Hayward Fire Department is seeking to re-enter into a similar agreement with TVHC, for a five-year period with an option to review both parties’ obligations under the agreement on an annual basis. The resolution (Attachment II) includes appropriating past and future revenue collected via monthly rent payments to maintain the property and make necessary upgrades to the clinic to expand or improve service delivery.
BACKGROUND
On June 17, 2014, the City Council approved the construction contract to build a new Fire Station Number 7. According to the Alameda County Public Health Department, health care coverage is unaffordable for more than 200,000 residents in Alameda County. Many of these uninsured residents use emergency rooms (ER) throughout the County as their primary health care providers, creating undue burden and overcrowding in these ERs. In addition, there is a significant shortage of primary and preventative care health providers in the County.
From an innovative and forward-thinking effort to address these issues, the concept of a Firehouse Clinic evolved. These centers could provide a new level of localized care that would be fully integrated into the County health care delivery system. The clinics would be co-located at fire station sites in Alameda County and have limited-scope staffing that would be a referral point for sub-acute 911 calls. Approximately 30,000 calls annually in Alameda County currently use emergency room services. They also help provide discharge follow-up for local residents within forty-eight hours of discharge from Acute Care. The construction of a new Fire Station 7 provided an opportunity to serve as a primary pilot site for a health care clinic, especially given the segment of the Hayward population that this station serves.
The Firehouse Clinic, approximately 2,400 square feet, is located at 28300 Huntwood Avenue in South Hayward, adjacent to Hayward Fire Station 7. The Firehouse Clinic, a first of its kind in the country, was a collaborative effort between the Hayward Fire Department, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, Acute Care Hospitals, and the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. It was designed to provide an alternative to community clinics that have long wait times and costly (often preventable) emergency room visits; the clinic provides residents with accessible and affordable health care regardless of coverage. In 2015, the City executed a MOU with TVHC outlining the roles and responsibilities of this unique partnership.
DISCUSSION
City and TVHC Obligations: For all intents and purposes, the City's key role in any agreement with TVHC would be to maintain the building and property that TVHC will utilize to commence the provision of services and to allow the use of the space and some associated parking by TVHC. Likewise, TVHC's key role in this agreement is to: provide the requisite services; provide appropriate, safe, and code-compliant workspace(s) and office equipment for clinical staff; and maintain compliance with all municipal codes. It is important to note that TVHC will be responsible for all charges from their operations, such as custodial services, HVAC repairs, utilities, and waste disposal services. These terms will be worked out and negotiated through the agreement execution process.
Appropriation of Rent: TVHC will pay rent to the City in the amount of $2,200 per month. Staff requests that Council authorize the City Manager to retroactively appropriate the rent collected by the clinic to CIP Fund FD010 for future clinic upgrades and general maintenance services. Staff also requests an ongoing appropriation of rent in an effort to help the clinic be as cost-neutral as possible.
The Firehouse Clinic has culturally and linguistically appropriately served over twenty-three thousand individuals since November 2016, including medical, dental, and behavioral health services. The Clinic has become an integral part of the South Hayward and Alameda County healthcare system.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The clinic was designed to provide an alternative to community clinics with long wait times and costly (often preventable) emergency room visits. The clinic offers residents accessible and affordable health care regardless of coverage and has allowed low-income residents to seek medical attention when needed. There is no cost to the City for the execution of this MOU. On the contrary, the City will generate monthly rent payments, which it hopes to use to support maintenance and improvements to 28300 Huntwood Ave.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Clinic was constructed through a $1.2 million grant from the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. The City will not incur any expenses as a result of executing this MOU but will generate monthly rent income of $2,200, which the Fire Department will use towards maintenance and improvements.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhance Community Safety and Quality of Life. Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following projects:
Project 1 Support Safety through Community-Centered Response and Enforcement Models Project 2 Support Safety through Emergency Preparedness, Planning, and Response
PUBLIC CONTACT
City staff meets with TVHC and Alameda County to discuss myriad topics associated with the Firehouse Clinic, including the MOU scope of work. The MOU at issue will be reviewed and accepted by both the City Attorney's office and TVHC's legal department. Furthermore, the original MOU was reviewed by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors as part of their approval of a separate contract with TVHC; that contract is necessary in order to allow the County to fund TVHC's operational costs related to the Clinic.
NEXT STEPS
If this item is approved, staff will negotiate and execute the MOU and appropriate past and future revenue collected from TVHC monthly rent payments to CIP Project FD010 to fund property maintenance and clinic upgrades.
Prepared by: Shanalee Gallagher, Management Analyst
Recommended by: Garrett Contreras, Fire Chief
Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager