Sarah Nelson

Sarah Nelson serves as the Program Point of Contact for the Indian Health Service, playing a critical role in aligning procurement activities with the agency’s mission to deliver culturally competent health care to American Indian and Alaska Native communities. She facilitates the acquisition of essential medical infrastructure, clinical diagnostics, and facility maintenance services, ensuring that contracting decisions directly support tribal health equity goals. Her work bridges program needs with procurement execution, coordinating with contracting officers to issue requirements, evaluate proposals, and manage contract performance for services critical to underserved tribal populations. Nelson maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of mission-aligned contractors, including McKesson Corporation for pharmaceutical and medical supply logistics, Flintco, LLC for facility construction and renovation, and tribal-led organizations such as The Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest, Inc. and Tribal Health, LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for vendors with deep cultural competency and proven experience delivering health services within tribal environments. Her engagement model emphasizes long-term collaboration over transactional procurement, fostering trust and continuity in service delivery. Her contracting patterns demonstrate a balanced commitment to socioeconomic goals, with approximately half of her acquisitions set aside for total small business participation under FAR 19.5, and the other half open to all competitors. While she does not exclusively favor 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, her portfolio consistently prioritizes small business eligibility and tribal-owned enterprise participation, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to economic self-determination in Native communities. Nelson’s primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 541490 (Other Specialized Design Services) and 813920 (Professional Organizations), reflecting her involvement in clinical infrastructure planning, health system design, and tribal health consortium management. She regularly procures specialized design, technical advisory, and organizational support services that enable the modernization of tribal health delivery systems, demonstrating deep expertise in the intersection of public health policy and culturally grounded service procurement.