ADC Awards Healthcare Contract to Centurion of Arizona

By Aziza Jackson

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) recently awarded a contract to deliver inmate correctional healthcare services to Centurion of Arizona, LLC. 

The award concludes the Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitation process that began June 1, 2018 (ADOC18-00008264).

During the RFP process, five bid proposals were received by the department. The department evaluated all submitted proposals and concluded Centurion’s offer to be the most competitive, and in the state’s best interest. As a result, ADC accepted Centurion’s bid of $204,709,753 million annually (or $16.604 per inmate per day) to provide comprehensive inmate healthcare services at ADC’s 10 state-run prison facilities. The contract is for two years with three one-year renewal options.

The contract with Centurion to assume its correctional healthcare responsibilities is effective July 1, 2019. ADC’s current inmate healthcare provider, Corizon, will continue to perform its existing contractual obligations, and is expected to work with ADC, and Centurion, to ensure a smooth transition of existing services.

In 2011, ADC was required by law to privatize correctional health services in all its state-operated prisons. Under the agreement, Centurion will place over 1,000 full-time equivalent employees at state-run prison facilities throughout Arizona to provide a wide array of medical, dental, and mental health services to an average daily population of approximately 33,700.

“This award gives us another opportunity to provide our innovative staffing and managed care solutions to a large, complex state correctional agency,” said Steven H. Wheeler, CEO of Centurion. “We look forward to a strong partnership with the Arizona Department of Corrections, the clinical professionals that provide care to this population, and with community providers.”

Centurion is a leading national provider of healthcare and behavioral health services to justice-involved populations. Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a diversified, multinational healthcare enterprise that provides a portfolio of services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals