Our mission is to develop, direct, and support exemplary agency-wide contract administration to provide quality services that improve health and well-being in Texas.

The Contract Management Unit (CMU) was established in 2006.  The Unit was housed and supported contract activities for the Disease Control and Prevention Division.  In 2012, the Unit acquired contracts for the Regional and Local Health Services (RLHS), and in 2016 acquired contracts for Regulatory Services.  

The Contract Management Section (CMS) was created on September 1, 2017, to provide consistency and standardization across DSHS. As a result, the CMS acquired contracts for Family and Community Health Services, and the agency administrative areas.  Some of our program areas were finding that if you did not “live in the contract arena on a daily basis you would forget or not know about new processes”.

The CMS supports all programs across the agency for all contract activities with the exception of fiscal monitoring and IT contracts by trained Certified Texas Contract Managers (CTCM) and/or Certified Texas Contract Developers (CTCD).

Patty Melchior – Section Director

Susana Garcia - Director - Administrative/Community Health Improvement/Laboratory & Infectious Disease Services Contracts

Jonah Wilczynski - Director - Regional & Local Heath Operations/Consumer Protection/Monitoring Contracts

Sundee Smith - Contract Administration Manager – CMS Operations Manager

Lucia Kelley - Manager - Regional & Local Heath Operations/Consumer Protection Contracts

Norma Six - Manager – CMS Monitoring Team  

Lauren Miller - Manager - Laboratory & Infectious Disease Services Contracts

Monica Molina - Manager – CMS Financial Team

Michael Montgomery – Manager – Administrative/Laboratory & Infectious Disease Services Contracts

Contract Planning Process

• Identifying the Need
• Determine Procurement Method
• Complete Planning Risk Assessment
• Planning Calendar & Kick-off Meetings

Procurement Process

• Initiate Procurement
• Stakeholder Kick-off Meeting
• Draft Solicitation
• Post Solicitation
• Procurement Evaluation

Contract Formation Process

• Draft Contract Document
• Contract Negotiations
• Fund Contract
• Legal Review
• Signature Routing
• Execute Contract

Contract Monitoring Process

• Contract Risk Assessment
• Monitor Performance (Escalation moved up to Wanda, if needed)
• Invoicing/Payments
• Expenditure Reporting
• Contract Amendments

Training

• Contracting 101 Training - Provide an overview of the contracting process from planning to closeout.