CBP Needs to Award A Medical Services Contract Quickly to Ensure No Gap in Services

We are issuing this management alert to advise the Department of Homeland Security and CBP of the urgency and short timeframe to award a new medical services contract. During two ongoing projects, we learned that CBP’s current contract for medical services will expire on September 29, 2020. As of September 3, 2020, CBP had not issued a solicitation for a new contract, leaving fewer than 30 days for necessary funding, reviews, and approvals before CBP can award the contract. A lapse in this contract could jeopardize the health and safety of migrants in CBP custody, as well as that of U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBP officers, and staff, during the current pandemic. We recommended that CBP dedicate all available resources necessary to its planning and communication to ensure continuity of CBP’s onsite medical services and that CBP conduct future contract planning and communication in a timely manner. CBP concurred with this recommendation.