The Board of Public Works unanimously approved a $724 million contract for pretrial detention medical and mental health services Wednesday over the objections of a troubled incumbent.
The vote by the three-member board approves the contract with Centurion of Maryland despite an ongoing set of appeals filed by private equity backed YesCare, which is currently providing services to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. An attorney representing YesCare called on the board to delay the vote, citing its policy on not weighing in on contracts that face a protest.
Wednesday’s effectively cut ties with an embattled incumbent contractor. It also put the board in a difficult position of having to decide the fate of a contract as the losing bidder appeals to the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals.
“Agencies should not look to the Board of Public Works to resolve protests unless the circumstances are extenuating,” said Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who voted with Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and Treasurer Dereck Davis for the Centurion contract. “Also, vendors should not file frivolous appeals with the hopes of putting the state in a posture in which we have limited leverage.”
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan Sears over at Maryland Matters
