More than half a dozen out-of-state and local consultants have submitted proposals to craft a business and implementation plan for the Baton Rouge Health District’s Diabetes and Obesity Center.
The proposed center would be one of the cornerstones of the nascent health district and, as its name implies, would focus on research, prevention and treatment of diabetes and obesity, which are rampant in south Louisiana.
The health district’s executive director, Suzy Sonnier, can’t say for sure exactly how many consulting firms submitted proposals by the July 1 deadline because she did not have a chance to review them before the holiday weekend. All of the early submittals she saw last week, however, were from out-of-state consulting firms.
In the coming days, members of the health district board of directors will review the proposals. In its proposals request issued in May, the health district specified that the business and implementation plan should identify existing resources in the community on which the center could build upon and also potential funding sources.
Board members will spend the next month reviewing the proposals. The week of Aug. 8 has been set aside for interviews, should the board decide to follow up with any of the applicants. Sonnier hopes the board will select the firm by mid-August and expects the planning process to take about eight months.
It’s unclear how much the business and implementation plan will cost and so far the health district does not have any money set aside to pay for it. Consultants were to put their price tag in the proposal. Sonnier expects there will be a range of six-figure prices.
So far, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the hospitals that are members of the district have put up all the money to create the district and hire the executive director. Sonnier says those members could fund the business and implementation plan though no funds have not yet been committed.
—Stephanie Riegel
