Single Source Procurement: Targeted Transgender Health Care Services

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 AIDS Institute (AI) is requesting to award a two-year contract to North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) to provide transgender health care services navigation and transgender competency education to medical students and hospital residents.

The project will:

  • 1) Increase outreach to transgender adolescents and adults not connected to care, provide HIV/HCV/STD testing and other health care services in a trans-affirming setting, and link those who are HIV + to ongoing HIV care and treatment. Individuals with an HIV-/unknown status will be connected to ongoing trans-affirming primary care services, including Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) promotion and initiation of regimens with adherence support as appropriate. This program will increase service of transgender patients to 100.
  • 2) Offer unique opportunities to educate the next generation of physicians on inclusive LGBT care through training and education tailored to the complex needs of Transgender individuals and their families. The rotation for Transgender health will be designed for medical students and postgraduate students (residents/fellows), and will include rotations through multiple subspecialties essential for Transgender care. This critical education component has the potential for long-term implications for improved cultural competence in Transgender care.

In 2014, the AIDS Institute awarded three programs in NYC $200,000 annually for five years to provide Transgender Health Care Services. The criteria used for selection was as follows: the agency had to be an Article 28-licensed facility; serve at least 100 transgender clients; provide health care services to transgender individuals in their community; and be in good programmatic standing with the AIDS Institute (not on corrective action plan).

In 2015, a need to offer similar transgender services for Long Island patients was identified. Long Island is believed to be one of, if not the largest, Transgender communities outside of NYC. Transgender patients' estimates for Long Island come mainly from community-based LGBT organizations programs and suggest the following: approximately 100 patients under 18 years, 175 patients 19 -30 years-old and 250 patients over 30 years of age. At the time, there were no health care funded programs outside of NYC and DOH believed that establishing a program serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island would meet a critical health care need for this population without having to travel to NYC for transgender-sensitive and experienced care. NSUH is uniquely positioned to fill the gap in this program coverage until these services are re-procured via the next formal competitive procurement.

Procurement / Program Name Targeted Transgender Health Care Services
Contractor Name(s) North Shore University Hospital
Contract Period 7/1/2017 – 6/30/2019
Contract Number(s) C32728GG