NCDHHS selects additional vendors to expand testing and contact tracing for COVID-19

RALIEGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services selected 13 businesses to join its pool of qualified vendors to support the state’s response to COVID-19, bringing the total number of vendors to 39.

North Carolina is responding to the pandemic on multiples fronts, including building the state’s testing and contact tracing infrastructure, while surging assets in communities and populations that have been hardest hit by COVID-19.

The selected vendors are pre-qualified to work with the department. The department is prioritizing working with minority-owned business vendors or vendors who retain a diverse workforce. NCDHHS is working with the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses and partners to encourage prioritized vendors to apply. 

Vendors applied to be qualified for individual or multiple components to support the state’s strategy:   

• Testing and Lab Capacity. Knowing who has COVID-19 is critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19. New guidance recommends clinicians test anyone suspected of having COVID-19, as well as people who are at higher risk of exposure, higher risk for serious illness or disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 regardless of symptoms. Among the areas of focus are supporting historically marginalized populations, testing in congregate living facilities, testing in areas with outbreaks, addressing low-tested counties or communities and supporting businesses and their workforce.
• Contact Tracing. Contact Tracing is a proven, effective way to help slow the spread of diseases like COVID-19. Contact tracing identifies people who have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. This helps North Carolina more rapidly identify those who may have been exposed and quickly get them the necessary supports and resources that can help protect them and their loved ones. To meet the scale needed to respond to COVID-19, NCDHHS is seeking vendors who represent the communities and people impacted by COVID-19 to build on the work of local health departments through vendors.

This is a rolling qualification process and vendors will be able to submit a response by the first of every month through December. The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Round 3, which is for testing and lab capacity, is now posted. The deadline for response is July 31. In addition, the department anticipates issuing future RFQs for other functions related to COVID-19.

Qualified vendors testing include:  

• Cone Health
• Groundwater Solutions 
• Mako Medical
• North Carolina Community Health Center Association 
• Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency 
• Substance Abuse Treatment Labs
• Visit Healthcare

Qualified vendors for lab capacity include:  

• Kashi Clinical Laboratories
• Mako Medical
• Substance Abuse Treatment Labs

Qualified vendors for contact tracing include:  

• Conduent State Healthcare LLC
• Jennifer Temps, Inc
• Agile Government Services, Inc.
• AM LLC
• Computer Aid Inc (CAI)
• Groundwater Solutions
• Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency

The testing and lab capacity RFQ for Round 3 is available at https://www.ips.state.nc.us/IPS/AGENCY/PDF/13763000.pdf.

NCDHHS announced the first round of vendors selected to expand testing and contact tracing for COVID-19 on June 19. NCDHHS issued the initial RFQ on May 29.

For more information on testing and contact tracing, please see the Frequently Asked Questions about Testing and Frequently Asked Questions about Contact Tracing. For data and information about North Carolina’s testing strategy, visit the North Carolina COVID-19 Dashboard: covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard. 

For the latest on COVID-19, visit nc.gov/covid19.