Knowledge and Insights

Princeton, NJ and Philadelphia, PA – The Mercadien Group is pleased to announce a subcontract agreement with Kingstonville LLC, who was recently awarded a five-year $15 million contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its subagency, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to provide administrative and technical support in risk, compliance and  program management to support reconsideration of Provider Relief Fund Allocations and support in response to COVID-19.

The contract, effective immediately, is the third consecutive award that Mercadien has participated in for risk management and compliance oversight of a federal entity. In October of 2019, Mercadien was awarded a five-year contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide risk-based review and risk oversight support services for the Certified Development Company (CDC)/504 Loan Program, administered through the Offices of Capital Access and Credit Risk Management.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides direct financial assistance, in the form of grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and scholarships and loan repayments for the purposes of providing access to quality health care to the Nation’s underserved, vulnerable, and special needs populations. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PPHCEA), and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act provide the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $178 billion under the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to administer a Provider Relief Fund (PRF). Responsibility for administering PRF has been delegated to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The American Rescue Plan Act provided an additional $8.5 billion for PRF payments for providers serving rural areas. HRSA’s Office of Provider Support (OPS) distributes the authorized funding through the Provider Relief Fund (PRF).

Mr. Digesh B. Patel, CPA, MBA, RMA, CGMA, PSA, managing director and co-chair of Mercadien’s Government and Compliance Oversight Services Groups, stated, “Mercadien has partnered with Kingstonville in the past on projects for other federal agencies, such as the SBA, and has a very good relationship with them from managing these large engagements, leveraging each other’s resources and ensuring that the federal government receives the best-in-class service that both our companies have to offer. This is the first time that our Government and Compliance Oversight Services Groups have partnered with Kingstonville, and we are super excited to bring our state and local government experience to collaborate with them to provide risk, compliance and program management services to HRSA. Mercadien is a GSA-approved Contractor as well, so this opens the door for us to create additional opportunities to work with other federal agencies.”

The Mercadien Group is a family of entities that provides a full spectrum of advisory and accounting services, including traditional audit and financial reporting, tax compliance and planning, compliance oversight, risk assessment, litigation support, outsourced CFO and accounting services, mergers and acquisitions assistance, succession planning, management and board consulting; as well as wealth management solutions. Founded in Princeton in 1963, the firm serves privately-owned companies of nearly every type and industry, as well as financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, government entities, and wealthy individuals and families. Mercadien provides forward-thinking, relationship-driven, financial and strategic services and solutions that maximize wealth and profitability, minimize taxes and risk, evaluate systems and processes, and increase efficiencies for its many diverse and valued clients.  Learn more at Mercadien.com.