Single Source Procurement: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

Pursuant to New York State Finance Law § 163.10(b), The New York State Department of Health is presenting the following summary of relevant circumstances, and material and substantial reasons why a competitive procurement was not feasible. The New York State Department of Health Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants, and Children has made a determination to issue a Single Source Procurement to one eligible grantees to support ongoing currently funded projects.

The WIC Program was established as the result of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. The Program provides nutrition assessment, health education, referral to medical services and nutritious foods to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children until five years of age. WIC benefits are currently provided through 91 local agencies operating approximately 383 service sites throughout the state. The program currently serves 402,000 participants monthly and employs more than 1,700 staff at the local agency level; current annual federal funding is $445.5 million (food benefits and program administration). The goal of the WIC Program is to improve the nutrition and health status of eligible pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants and children in New York State through the provision of nutritious foods, nutrition-health education and counseling and linkages with other health and human service programs.

WHCAMC is currently serving more than their contractually assigned target caseload of 2,005 participants. Currently the average enrollment is 2,714 participants and the average participation is 2,323 participants. WHCAMC has been able to maintain services to a larger caseload by cross-training staff and requiring administrative staff to take on program support functions. However, participants are experiencing longer wait times and there is a backlog in administrative processes that have been deprioritized. The existing strategy for maintaining a higher caseload cannot be sustained at the existing funding levels.

Without the additional funding, WHCAMC would have needed to close a temporary site located in Berne NY, lay off at least one full time qualified nutritionist, and decrease the hours of part time staff. Due to the high cost of supplies they would also stopped performing on-site bloodwork. Decreasing staff and available sites would have resulted in longer wait times and decreased quality of customer service. Unscheduled participants would have been turned away if sufficient staff were unavailable. Participants encountering long wait times, difficulty in scheduling appointments, and difficulty arranging transportation due to site closings are less likely to continue with the program.

Procurement / Program Name	Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
Contractor Name(s)	Women’s Health Center of Albany Medical College
Contract Period	10/1/2018 – 09/30/2020
Contract Number(s)	C30448GG