TITLE
title
AMENDMENTS TO CONE HEALTH SERVICES AGREEMENT AND LEASE FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER
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SPONSOR
sponsor
Victor Isler, Assistant County Manager
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BACKGROUND
background
Guilford County has an existing services agreement and lease with Cone Health for operation of the County's Behavioral Health Center (BHC) on Third Street in Greensboro. County and Cone staff have identified some points in the current agreement and lease that, if amended, will help improve operations of and client experience at the BHC and across the broader behavioral health system in the County. The existing lease and service agreement were approved in October 2019 for a five (5) year term beginning when the center began operations in June 2021; the current term will accordingly end in June 2026. Staff recommend addressing these changes as amendments instead of a new contract at this time due to the pending transition of the County's LME/MCO and the pending Behavioral Health strategic planning work being done by CCR.
The recommended changes to the lease are:
- Snow Removal: Cone will be responsible for conducting or arranging for snow removal at the facility on a 24 hour basis and the County will reimburse Cone for the associated cost. Currently, the County conducts snow removal directly but it does not have the capacity to maintain a 24 hour operation at the facility.
- Security Staffing: Clarifying language around the definitions of "internal" security, provided by Cone and reimbursed by the County, and "external security", provided by County Security Department staff. In addition, adding a specific requirement that Cone's and the County's security officers are expected to assist one another upon the request of the other party's officers.
The recommended changes to the service agreement are:
- Consistency between Service Agreement and Lease: Certain language such as provision of security officers for the facility is repeated in the two documents or the service agreement makes reference to clauses of the lease; the service agreement amendment will ensure any such references match those in the lease.
- Updated Guilford County Behavioral Health Center Oversight Board: Certain references and requirements for participation with the Guilford County Behavioral Health Oversight Board, as established and/or modified by the County Commissioners in June 2023, are updated and incorporated. These changes reflect both the County's and Cone's roles and participation. The by-laws of the oversight board as adopted in June 2023 are also incorporated for reference of both parties, subject to any future changes by the Board of Commissioners.
- Data Use Agreement: A data use agreement (DUA) around the sharing and use of data from the services provided by Cone at the Behavioral Health Center is added. The intention of this DUA is to allow the County to access data from the operations at the Behavioral Health Center in a manner compliant with Cone data security and HIPAA requirements and a format useable by the County for its analysis needs as described in the document.
These amendments will be effective upon approval by both parties and remain in effect for the remainder of the terms of the existing service agreement and lease.
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BUDGET IMPACT
budget impact
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY DOLLARS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
requested action
Approve amendments to the Behavioral Health Center service agreement and lease with Cone Health to be effective immediately through the end of the current agreement and lease terms.
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