 Maximus Health Services will expand COVID-19 contact tracing efforts for Pima County
PIMA COUNTY, AZ, July 7, 2020 – Pima County has chosen Maximus Health Services Inc. to increase local COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. Maximus will perform extensive contract tracing under the direction of the Pima County Health Department to alert, educate, and isolate individuals who have had close contact with a known COVID-19 case. This partnership will dramatically expand the number of people performing this type of work in Pima County. The plan includes initially hiring as many as 150 workers.
“One of the key components of our response to this outbreak that has been difficult to ramp us has been the hours and hours of people power it takes to do this type of work and the systems it take to support that staff,” said Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen. “We look forward to being able to quickly take advantage of the experience, capacity, and planning Maximus will be able to provide.”
The $10 million, six-month contract will support all aspects of the contact tracing expansion and has multiple extension options in three-month increments to allow the County to reduce or expand efforts based on need.
Maximus will hire people from Pima County.
“We wanted to make sure that as we started adding to this staff, we were able to not only bring jobs into our County, but also capitalize on the sense of community and diversity that the people of Pima County bring to the table,” Cullen said.
Work will begin immediately, with the initial kick-off meeting between County and Maximus leadership happening later this week. Information about applying for the multiple openings will be released soon.
Contact tracing is a tool used by health departments to prevent the spread of diseases by identifying people who have an infectious disease and the people who may have been exposed to them. Contact tracers ask questions and provide education to people who may have been exposed. For COVID-19, this can include asking cases to isolate and contacts to quarantine at home voluntarily.
As contact tracing efforts continue to expand in Pima County, the Health Department encourages everyone to:
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Pick up the phone! The caller will provide verification that they are calling on behalf of the Pima County Health Department.
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Answer the questions you may be asked and follow the guidance provided. Any information you share is confidential and protected by law. It will not be shared with anyone else.
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Be prepared. If you are contacted by someone who says they have COVID-19 and you may be a close contact, think about the places and people you have been around since you time with that person. It may even be helpful to make notes.
- If you have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19, you should stay at home and self-quarantine for 14 days, starting from the most recent day that you were possibly exposed to COVID-19. Monitor yourself, and maintain social distancing (at least 6 feet) from others at all times.
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Monitor for symptoms and notify your healthcare provider if you become ill.
For more information on contact tracing, visit www.pima.gov/covid-19 or www.cdc.gov/covid19 and click on “Contact Tracing”
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