DEPARTMENT: Animal Care Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Xavier Urrutia
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Authorizing a contract with Dr. Courtney Bridgeman for veterinary in-house surgical services.
SUMMARY:
An Ordinance authorizing a contract in an amount up to $150,000.00 with Dr. Courtney Bridgeman to provide veterinary in-house surgical services for a term of September 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017 with the option of one (1) one-year renewal.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Animal Care Services (ACS) clinic operates 7 days a week maintaining the shelter health of pets in our care and preparing pets via spay/neuter and specialized surgeries for live release placement through adoption or transfer to ACS rescue groups; necessitating the need for relief Contract Veterinarians to aide ACS Veterinary staff in performing these valuable services. Retaining the services of high-volume surgery providers allows ACS to maintain maximum daily operations of performing over 17,000 spay/neuter and specialized surgeries in-house annually by our Staff and Contract Veterinary team.
Sterilizing pets through spay/neuter surgeries is key in controlling the stray and roaming animal population in San Antonio. Nearly 60,000 spay/neuter surgeries are performed annually through the collaboration of many community partners including the City’s Animal Care Services (ACS) - who supports 37,375 of these surgeries. Dr. Bridgeman is a vital partner has the proven ability to perform high-volume surgeries that results in expediting the number of pets leaving the shelter.
The City issued an on-going Request for Application (RFA) in August 2016 soliciting applications for qualified and experienced candidates for Contract Veterinarians at ACS. Due diligence was done by ACS staff ensuring that all Veterinarians are currently licensed to practice Veterinary Medicine in the State of Texas and were interviewed by the ACS Chief Veterinarian to better ascertain all the skills needed in working in a high-paced shelter environment. For this contract, the SBEDA Ordinance requirements were waived due to no certified SMWBE’s registered within the program.
ISSUE:
This Ordinance authorizes a contract in an amount up to $150,000.00 with Dr. Courtney Bridgeman to provide veterinary in-house surgical services for a term of September 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017 with the option of one one-year renewal. The Animal Care Services Director or Director’s designee is authorized to amend the contract and adjust surgery rates to accommodate for specialized surgeries or additional medical services and increase total compensation, subject to funding availability.
ALTERNATIVES:
If this contract is not approved, ACS will be limited to the number of in-house surgeries performed. This action would decrease the number of surgeries performed daily, increase animal length of stay in the shelter and affecting both annual shelter capacity and the department’s Live Release rate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Funds in the amount of $150,000.00 are included in both the ACS FY 2016 Adopted Budget as well as the continuation of these services are included in the FY 2017 Proposed Budget. The remainder of this contract would be contingent on the adoption of the FY 2017 General Fund Budget.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of this Ordinance authorizing a contract in an amount up to $150,000.00 to Dr. Courtney Bridgeman for ACS veterinary surgical services.