Bidding is intense for DHS contract. (Department of Health Services' behavioral health contracts)

Three entities that administer $65.5 million worth of behavioral health contracts each year in the Valley are waiting to see which ones may be put out of business by the state's decision to contract with a single regional authority.

The Arizona Department of Health Services expects to choose a regional authority by June 1. In the past, three organizations -- the Community Care Network, the East Valley Behavioral Health Association, and the Community Organization for Drug Abuse, Mental Health and Alcoholism Services -- had individual contracts with the state.

That was until Alethea Caldwell, acting director of DHS, decided to consolidate Maricopa County's behavioral …