Vizient Announces Community Contracting Program to Help Certified Diverse Suppliers Connect with Hospitals

IRVING, Texas (BUSINESS WIRE), August 12, 2020 - Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest health care performance improvement company, today announced an opportunity for minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses to enroll in its Community Contracting Program, a new initiative designed to connect Vizient member hospitals with local, diverse suppliers and service providers. When launched to its member hospitals, Community Contracting will streamline identification and contracting with certified diverse, local businesses, which will help support economic development in their communities.

Qualified businesses are invited to apply now for the program. Vizient will accept private sector business certifications for minority-, women- and veteran business enterprises (MBE, WBE, VBE), LGBT certifications, state MBE and WBE certifications, federal HUBZone certification, and federal small business registration. The initial rollout of the Community Contracting program has started for suppliers in four economically impacted metropolitan areas in the country: San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta. When complete, the program will be available to diverse suppliers in 50 cities throughout the U.S.

“Our goal is to support local, diverse businesses and entrepreneurs to create wealth in the communities where they live and work. Connecting Vizient member hospitals to local businesses for contracted services and supplies keeps dollars within the community, which is the ultimate goal, and in turn helps local, small, and diverse suppliers and services grow,” said Shaleta Dunn, senior director, program services for Vizient. “This solution encompasses a core value of our members. Shifting supply and service spend to local, diverse suppliers will help promote job growth and economic development, which ultimately improves the health of the patient population.”

Vizient invites applications from qualified medical device and hospital suppliers as well as facilities and service providers for these products and service categories:

By subscribing to Vizient’s Supplier Connection tool, Vizient member hospitals will be able to access data, tools and resources to find diverse suppliers based on product, geography and other attributes. In addition, the tool will help streamline purchasing opportunities with diverse suppliers in both tier 1 (primary source) and tier 2 (secondary source) categories.

The program has launched and Vizient is actively seeking suppliers for the identified geographic areas. Qualified businesses can apply to enroll here. For questions, email supplierdiversity@vizientinc.com.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

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Angie Boliver
(972) 830-7961
angie.boliver@vizientinc.com