Arkansas Department Of Health

Arkansas Department of Health, a U.S. state government entity headquartered in Little Rock, operates as a recipient and prime contractor to federal agencies delivering public health, nutrition assistance, disease surveillance, and regulatory inspection services across the state and in support of national federal programs. The agency does not hold federal contract vehicles and operates exclusively as a prime recipient or sub-recipient on grant awards and as a prime contractor on purchase orders and definitive contracts; it does not compete under set-asides.

The agency's federal footprint is substantial and diversified across health and human services agencies. A centralized state health authority, Arkansas Department of Health coordinates public health administration, policy-making, and services through a central office in Little Rock with local health units distributed across the state's 75 counties. Recent prime federal awards span 740 contracts, grant awards, and indefinite delivery vehicles, with 57 distinct customer agencies and combined potential value of $570.3 million. The top customer by award count is the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (80 awards for WIC and related nutrition programs); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (71 awards) anchors substantial dollars, with CDC Pittsburgh alone accounting for 37 awards and $44.1 million in combined potential value. The Social Security Administration places 37 awards worth $6.7 million for enumeration at birth, electronic death records, and vital statistics services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Food and Drug Administration are significant customers.

Arkansas Department of Health's concrete capability portfolio reflects its role as the state's public health engine. Signature work includes CDC-funded vaccine safety capacity planning and storage programs (approximately $244.5 thousand per delivery order under a $3.2 million IDV running through April 2027); National Death Index maintenance and operation for CDC Pittsburgh ($23.9 thousand in 2026, $30.2 thousand in 2025); Social Security Administration enumeration at birth and race and ethnicity records services ($1.3 million through June 2029); electronic death records services for SSA (55 states and jurisdictions, $1.3 million through December 2028); FDA human food inspections in Arkansas ($445.8 thousand through March 2027); FDA Mammography Quality Standards Act inspections ($488.9 thousand through August 2027); Hansen's disease outpatient services for Health Resources and Services Administration ($791.2 thousand through September 2028); and USDA WIC program administration and food expenses (multiple awards totaling $73 million in combined potential value through fiscal 2026). The agency also operates CDC-funded surveillance, epidemiology, and capacity programs for emerging infectious diseases, immunization, tuberculosis elimination, HIV surveillance and prevention, stroke prevention and registry maintenance, and maternal mortality review; HRSA-funded maternal and child health services, home visiting, and family planning; EPA-funded public water system supervision; and SAMHSA suicide prevention and 988 lifeline capacity.

SCI-reported invoicing on federal service contracts above the reporting threshold ran $248 thousand across three fiscal years (FY2022–FY2024), with 0.1–0.5 FTEs delivered across prime service contracts in that window. Government-paid hourly rates on prime contracts ranged from $793.30/hr at the tenth percentile to $1,297.62/hr at the ninety-percentile, with a median of $1,045.46/hr. SCI data capture is partial and does not reflect the agency's full federal revenue, which is dominated by formula grants and purchase orders below or outside the SCI reporting threshold.

The agency's top parent vehicles for ordering include Basic Ordering Agreement HHSD200201250802I (11 task orders, $2.1 million) and multiple single-award Social Security Administration indefinite delivery contracts (SS000660021, SS000860020, SS001260015, and others). Forty-five awards carrying combined potential value of $959 thousand are scheduled for ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, exposing the agency to routine recompete cycles on renewal of formula grants and standing purchase orders with CDC, SSA, FDA, HRSA, and USDA.

The agency operates as a prime on 99% of its awards, with minimal subcontractor engagement (seven sub-awards, under 1% of total). When Arkansas Department of Health subcontracts, it performs data aggregation work for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services primary care programs under primes Health Services Advisory Group and Tista Science and Technology Corporation. As a sub-recipient, the agency receives pass-through grants from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Department of Human Services for health promotion research and refugee medical assistance programs.

Award activity trended down from 25 awards in 2022 to 20 in 2025 and only two through mid-2026, reflecting the recurring cycle of formula grant renewals and purchase order continuations rather than net growth. The agency's category concentration sits in administration of public health programs (63 awards), computing infrastructure and data processing (41 awards), and voluntary health organization work (14 awards), with dominant PSC codes spanning support and administrative information retrieval, quality control and testing services, and data collection functions.