Quarterly Report - Facilities Broadband ARPA SLFRF, Virginia Department of Health (December 2021)
Summary
The Facilities Broadband ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report for December 2021, dated 12/29/2021, from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) on its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund broadband initiative. It quotes the 2021 Acts of Assembly requirement that the department report quarterly on progress. The report says delivery of broadband at speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second download and 20 Mbps upload is critical, and that nearly 96% of assessed VDH buildings are unserved or underserved. The project budget section states a Total Budget of $8,000,000 with Fiber Optic Internet and Mobile Internet groups, and says wireline allocations were moved to Fiber Optic Internet because wired internet was removed from the scope.
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“Quarterly Report - Facilities Broadband ARPA SLFRF, Virginia Department of Health (December 2021).”
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FACILITIES BROADBAND
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF)
12/29/2021
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 2 of 8
Table of Contents
Report Mandate 3
Context for ARPA Initiatives 3
Executive Summary 3
Objectives 4
Overview of Quarterly Progress (Oct – Dec 2021) 4
Comments on Alignment to plan submitted in September 2021 5
Anticipated Next Quarter Activities (Jan – March 2022) 6
Risks and Risk Management 6
Change Management Considerations 8
Project Budget 8
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 3 of 8
Report Mandate
Chapter 1 Enactment Clause 1, paragraph B.2.P.4., of the amended 2021 Acts of Assembly states, “The
department shall communicate a detailed plan and implementation schedule to the Governor, the Chairs
of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees, and the Director of the
Department of Planning and Budget by September 30, 2021. Additionally, the department shall report
quarterly to the Governor, the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations
Committees, and the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget on progress made, with the first
progress report to be delivered not later than December 31, 2021.”
Context for ARPA Initiatives
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is excited about the opportunity presented by the appropriation
of ARPA State Fiscal Funds in the August 2021 Special Session II of the General Assembly to improve public
health in Virginia. VDH views this investment as a once in a generation opportunity and will work diligently
to maximize use of funds to initiate, implement and sustain these initiatives. Simultaneously, VDH is fully
engaged in responding to COVID-19 and protecting the health of Virginians. Currently, VDH is developing
project plans to minimize the impacts of the public health emergency on local health departments in the
first year and will be flexible in the implementation of these initiatives as dictated by the emergency
response. Modifications to VDH’s plans will be reflected in future quarterly reports.
Executive Summary
As millions of Virginians pivoted to remote work and life during the COVID-19 pandemic, it underscored
the significant importance of universally available, high-speed, reliable, and affordable broadband
coverage for all citizens. Individuals and families continue to rely on the internet to increase their
awareness of COVID variants, locate local healthcare resources, and request immunization records.
Modernizing and upgrading the internet infrastructure of Local Health District (LHD) offices and client
service areas throughout the Commonwealth is fundamental to protecting the health and promoting the
well-being of all people in Virginia. Critical to continuing Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH)
unprecedented COVID-19 response effort is the delivery of broadband service at speeds of at least 100
Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload.Sufficientbroadband allows for timeliness
and accuracy in the delivery of public health services that use web-based services (where services are
scheduled, documented, and reported via those web-based systems and are reported to multiple
different sources – such as vaccinations to VIIS).
With nearly 96% of assessed VDH buildings currently unserved or underserved by broadband (speeds less
than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload), significant internet infrastructure upgrades are imperative
for VDH to adequately serve Virginians post- COVID-19. The ARPA SLFRF funding will be used to upgrade
unserved and underserved VDH facilities via fiber optic broadband connection, wireless 5G broadband
connection, or reliable wireline connection.
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 4 of 8
Over the last three months, VDH conducted a broadband gap analysis and identified facilities that require
bandwidth improvements and sequenced them based on criteria which included current connectivity
sufficiency, utilization requirements, and socioeconomic factors of the population and communities
served. Following the successful completion of broadband and wireless 5G pilot programs, improvements
will be made to VDH facilities in batches, beginning with the sites identified as having the greatest needs.
Objectives
The objective of this initiative is to add a broadband connection to unserved and underserved VDH
buildings that will reliably deliver speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20-100 Mpbs upload, to:
• Enable internet speeds for the operation of an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, digitized
records storage, and increasingly automated administrative systems at each location.
• Enable adequate bandwidth for employees to virtually access systems and allow them to
effectively work remotely.
• Provide speeds adequate for two-way video conferencing between VDH and other stakeholders
or patients who are unable to visit in person due to COVID-19.
• Increase the capacity of each office to access online systems and resources to more efficiently
complete daily operations and serve clients.
Overview of Quarterly Progress (Oct – Dec 2021)
Since the submission of the September 30, 2021 report, VDH has accomplished the below activities
associated with the Facilities Broadband Initiative. These accomplishments have strongly positioned VDH
to begin broadband service upgrades at VDH facilities in the coming months. The key activities that have
been accomplished to date are summarized below:
• Site Identification / Selection
o Compiled a list of all VDH facilities that are currently unserved or underserved and are
candidates for broadband upgrades and implementation.
o Developed a fiber broadband pilot program to target initial upgrades on a diverse subset
of facilities. This initial pilot will serve as an example and baseline for subsequent
broadband upgrades, helping to inform potential process inefficiencies, discrepancies in
estimated vs. actual cost of upgrades, and vendor performance. These lessons-learned
will allow the team to optimize and further refine the upgrade process and schedule for
the subsequent facility upgrades to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and cost-savings
throughout the entirety of the initiative.
o Identified fifteen eligible sites to be included in the fiber broadband pilot program. These
sites were carefully selected to serve as a diverse sample of the remaining locations across
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 5 of 8
the various LHD’s, which will help to inform best practices for future facility broadband
upgrades.
o Created a tool to sequence projects based on criteria that includes current bandwidth and
utilization, as well as surrounding community health equity considerations. These metrics
were weighted and aggregated to establish a ranked list that will be used to sequence
facility improvements, beginning with facilities and communities with the greatest need.
o Developed baseline schedule of logically sequenced activities for VDH facilities broadband
upgrades, from planning to implementation to closeout.
o Developed and distributed internet speed test survey to LHD facilities to obtain more
accurate upload/download speeds at each site.
• Internal Engagement
o Met with the Commonwealth’s Broadband Office to better understand the broader
landscape of broadband activities currently taking place in the Commonwealth, and to
coordinate with the efforts to upgrade VDH facilities to broadband service. This initial
outreach has facilitated continued collaboration between VDH and other broadband
stakeholders in the Commonwealth, which will enable all interested parties to utilize best
practices and lessons learned.
o Engaged with Bureau of Real Estate (BRES) to ensure that necessary landlord approvals
are being considered at each facility where hardware installation or structural updates
may need to be made, and that opportunities to obtain rent credits from building
upgrades are being pursued when possible.
• External Engagement
o Established standard communications channels to coordinate initiative correspondence
with external stakeholders.
o Distributed correspondence to fiber broadband vendors qualified in the VITA Supply
Chain Group to gauge interest and ability to complete upgrade activities at broadband
pilot sites.
• Miscellaneous
o Developed ARPA guidance materials to enable the team to more easily monitor relevant
ARPA guidelines throughout the initiative lifecycle.
Comments on Alignment to plan submitted in September 2021
The activities completed since the September 30, 2021 submission of the initial workplan have been
important components of the Discovery & Facility Assessment project phase that, as outlined in the
September workplan, was scheduled to continue through March 2022. The implementation of a fiber
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 6 of 8
broadband pilot program prior to conducting site assessments for all facilities was not explicitly outlined
as a step in the initial workplan, but was identified as an important phase that will allow VDH to refine the
facility upgrade process and gain efficiencies in the future. VDH will first focus on completing pilot site
upgrades upon completion of the Discovery & Assessment phase. VDH then plans to use lessons learned
to optimize the upgrade process before initiating the full implementation of site upgrades across the
Commonwealth.
Anticipated Next Quarter Activities (Jan – March 2022)
The following outlines the activities and tasks planned from January through March 2022:
• Pilot Program
o Use of mandatory source VITA contracts for the pilot sites; these are fixed contract rates.
It is anticipated that some vendors will be selected to complete upgrades at multiple
locations.
o Vendors will conduct site assessments at the pilot sites to determine the full scope of
work needed to improve bandwidth and recommend the most effective broadband
technology based on facility and surrounding environment.
o Once the scope of work is defined at each site, vendors will procure the necessary
equipment and materials to install the upgraded broadband infrastructure, while the
agency will be responsible for obtaining accompanying software, such as secure gateway
services.
• Full Implementation
o Utilize the sequencing tool to generate a project sequence for the remaining facility
upgrades. Sites will be upgraded in batches, beginning with locations and communities
with the greatest need.
o Identify and select vendors to batch-improve pilot sites after review of vendor responses
and their fixed contract rates with VITA. Lessons learned from the pilot program will be
leveraged to minimize risk and exposure to unforeseen changes.
Risks and Risk Management
• Risk 1: EHR, Records Management, and Administrative Systems are all successor initiatives to
the Facilities Broadband initiative and could be drastically impacted by communication or
coordination shortcomings between the respective initiatives and the broadband initiative.
o Mitigation Strategy: The Broadband team will continue to collaborate closely with the
EHR, Records Management, and Administrative Systems Initiative teams to ensure that
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 7 of 8
VDH facilities are being scheduled for broadband upgrades prior to broadband-reliant
system implementations.
• Risk 2: Sites are unique with varying access to broadband service. The initial plan assumes some
degree of uniformity across all sites to identify likely candidates for fiber, wireless, or wireline
broadband and the associated implementation complexity and costs; however, until individual
site assessments are completed the exact needs at each site will not be known.
o Mitigation Strategy: The initial site estimates will include high and low estimates of
expenses, resources use, and time to complete to “plan for the worst” and build in
contingency for unexpected outcomes from site assessments.
• Risk 3: VDH’s reliance on broadband vendors for material and equipment procurement and
installation exposes the agency to a variety of potential risks, such as contractor’s experiencing
unforeseen labor shortages, contractor’s inaccurately estimating the schedule or cost of a
project, or contractor’s incorrectly installing upgrades, resulting in activation delays. These risks
are outlined below for each service type:
o Wireline Broadband – these upgrades require significant coordination with VITA/Verizon
supplier and site to perform site assessments, Verizon local phone carriers, localities, and
state agencies for major construction and VDH sourced providers upgrade for minor site
improvements to include cabling and conduit.
o Fiber Broadband – these upgrades will require coordination with local broadband
engineers to bring fiber optic cable from the nearest network to the premises and to
install the necessary hardware within the facility. Finally, the service provider will be
engaged to activate the service.
o Wireless Broadband – these upgrades require the least outside dependency, relying only
on hardware installation and remote service activation.
o Mitigation Strategy: Based on the results of the initial site assessment, the initiative team
will coordinate with contractors to establish the scope and realistic timelines to complete
the work with the available resources.
• Risk 4: There is another dependency on the availability of the hardware that is necessary to make
the broadband upgrades at each site – if there are supply chain delays on inventory, which has
the potential to impact the broadband upgrade progress.
o Mitigation Strategy: The impacts of procurement delays to critical equipment and
material deliveries can be mitigated through comprehensive planning and scheduling
efforts through collaboration with vendors. These measures will empower the VDH-IT
team to confidently sequence projects and enable broadband technicians and engineers
to assess site and facility conditions and order necessary equipment and materials with
sufficient lead time between material ordering and the scheduled start date for
installation.
Facilities Broadband
ARPA SLFRF Quarterly Report
December 2021
Page 8 of 8
• Risk 5: Monthly internet service costs may not be sustainable post-ARPA funding
o Verizon (supplier) costs for secure gateway, and firewall configuration etc., could
cause project delays if not implemented in a timely manner. There will need to be
resource contingencies with the vendors, supplier, and sites due to COVID-19
related activities.
Change Management Considerations
VDH understands that transformation initiatives are successful not only with the right technology,
processes, and resources, but also with people who are properly equipped for the changes. Successfully
navigating transformation in a highly complex environment requires effective management of business
process changes, communications, and stakeholder management to create buy-in at early stages.
Though the Facilities Broadband Initiative will not directly transform most business processes, VDH still
plans to develop and implement an effective change management and communications strategy to
establish employee understanding of the impacts and benefits of the facility broadband upgrades. The
strategy will include communication of the goals of the upcoming changes, preparation and alignment of
the changes, and an overall building of confidence in the benefits of the changes. The VDH team will
establish a change control board to oversee the management and implementation of changes.
Project Budget
The following budget has modified the project categories defined in the work plans submitted on
9/30/2021. The wireline allocations have been moved to the Fiber Optic Internet budget category due
to removing wired internet from the scope of this initiative. This change is reflected in the budget below.
Total Budget: $8,000,000
Cumulative Expenditures, Obligations, and Budget, through December 31, 2021
Project Group Current Expenditures Current Obligations Projected Total Budget
FY22 Budget
Fiber Optic Internet $0 $234,657 $1,380,000 $5,880,000
Mobile Internet $0 $269,282 $690,000 $2,120,000
Total $0 $503,939 $1,840,000 $8,000,000
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