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Approve the Board of Supervisors response to the 2023/2024 Civil Grand Jury Report of June 21, 2024, entitled - "Public Health Laboratory Systems Review."
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No __X__
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No __X__
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve the Board of Supervisors response to the 2023/2024 Civil Grand Jury Report of June 21, 2024, entitled - "Public Health Laboratory Systems Review."
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On June 21, 2024, the Solano County Civil Grand Jury issued a report entitled "Public Health Laboratory System Review." The FY2023/24 report is a follow-up from a report the Civil Grand Jury conducted in FY2012/13 when they elected to review the Health and Social Services Laboratory systems. The FY2012/13 Civil Grand Jury report highlighted some problems in the Public Health Laboratory, including inadequacies in the billing system and personnel shortages. Therefore, a follow-up investigation in FY2023/24 was deemed appropriate.
As part of their statement of facts, the Civil Grand Jury reported that the Public Health Laboratory (PHL), located at 2201 Courage Drive in Fairfield, is a regional laboratory facility, was established through an Exercise of Power Agreement (JEPA), and performs several routine public health laboratory tests for the Counties of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Marin, and Mendocino. (Note: Mendocino subsequently withdrew from the JEPA in 2024 due to budget constraints and a low volume of required tests.) The PHL is currently fully staffed, with 15 full-time personnel and two part-time employees, based on need and volume of testing.
The Civil Grand Jury report found the PHL uses two software systems, one for billing and one for lab management. The report indicates that both systems are currently not up to date on security requirement, a finding that was also determined to be the case in FY2012/13. PHL staff submitted a request to the...
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