The Tennessee Department of Health is seeking bids from companies to operate a COVID-19 call center and provide targeted vaccination services to areas with low uptake.
The state is seeking competitive bids to replace a highly scrutinized, $75 million no-bid contract initially awarded to Xtend Healthcare since the start of the pandemic to provide contact tracing and case monitoring services. The contract with Xtend ends on Jan. 31, according to state officials.
The Central Procurement Office declined to release proposals submitted to their office to be considered in the bidding process. The response deadline in Dec. 20, with the contract to be signed by Jan. 28, according to state documents.
The health department is also launching a new initiative via the Office of Minority Health and Division of Health Disparities Elimination to support statewide efforts to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
Through this, the states will use federal funding to hire, train and deploy community health workers in underserved communities across Tennessee, including racial and ethnic minority groups, economically disadvantaged persons, experiencing homelessness, or have certain underlying medical conditions that increase COVID-19 risk, according to the request for proposal.
So far, seven organizations have received funding that will last through June 30, 2023. The awarded organizations were Church Health Center of Memphis, Helping Hands of Middle and West Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach, Mountain Hope Good Shepherd Clinic, Siloam Health, Tennessee Charitable Care Network, and Tennessee Technological University.
