Georgia Campaign Donor Says Politics Did Not Influence Generous No-Bid COVID-19 Contract

 

The president of an Alpharetta-based medical company whose CEO donated generously to Georgia’s top politicians and subsequently received a $434 million no-bid contract said Tuesday that politics “had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Rick Jackson, the CEO of Jackson Healthcare, donated roughly $1 million to various statewide political candidates. Jackson donated to, among others, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Jackson Healthcare President Shane Jackson emailed The Georgia Star News on Tuesday.

“In the midst of a global pandemic and a COVID-19 outbreak crisis in our home state and across the country, we answered the state of emergency call to help care for our fellow Georgians,” Shane Jackson wrote.

“As the nation’s third largest healthcare staffing company, we are the only organization in Georgia and one of the only companies in the country with the resources to rapidly deliver on a project of this magnitude. We mobilized healthcare professionals within days – a process that can normally take weeks or even months – even while charging rates that are significantly less than what is typical in the market.”

Press secretaries and other communications staff members for Kemp, Duncan, and Raffensperger have not returned The Star News’ requests for comment this week.

Through this contract, Jackson Healthcare reportedly provides medical staff to several of Georgia’s hospitals and nursing homes through its subsidiary Healthcare Workforce Logistics (HWL). The contract expires in March, The Georgia Health News reported.

Shane Jackson told The Star News that HWL competitively bids every clinician position across an extensive network of staffing agencies –more than 100 agencies in Georgia – to assure they fill positions at a fair market rate.

“Using this structure, we have filled more than 15,000 positions across Georgia, while continuing to staff healthcare professionals in states across the nation,” Shane Jackson said.

Rick Jackson launched Jackson Healthcare in 2000. The company is among the three largest healthcare staffing firms in the United States. Jackson Healthcare crossed the billion-dollar annual revenue mark in 2018, the company’s website said.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rick Jackson” by Jackson Healthcare. Background Photo “Georgia Capitol” by Autiger. CC BY-SA 2.0.