Memorandum
Date: February 25, 2025
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Elise Jones, Director of Behavioral Health Services
Subject: Consideration of Amendment No.1 to the Agreement Between County of Lake and Aurora Behavioral Health for Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital Services and Professional Services Associated with Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitalizations for FY 2024-25 in the amount of $800,000.00.
Executive Summary:
This item seeks Board approval for Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement between the County of Lake and Aurora Behavioral Health for acute inpatient psychiatric hospital services and professional services associated with acute inpatient hospitalizations for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
Under the original Agreement, effective July 1, 2024, Aurora Behavioral Health was contracted to provide critical psychiatric hospitalization services to meet the County's obligations under California's Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) requirements. These requirements include ensuring access to medically necessary acute inpatient psychiatric care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who meet specific medical necessity criteria, as outlined in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 9, Sections 1810.345 and 1830.205.
Utilization of Aurora Behavioral Health's services has exceeded initial projections due to a higher-than-anticipated demand for acute psychiatric care. To ensure continued compliance with these state-mandated obligations and to maintain access to care, the proposed amendment increases the total compensation payable under the Agreement by $500,000, raising the contract maximum to $800,000.
This increase aligns with Lake County's Purchasing Ordinance, which allows for amendments to contracts to address emergent needs, provided sufficient funding is available and the amendment serves the best interests of the County. The County will fund this amendment through a combination of Medi-Cal reimbursements and local be...
Click here for full text