6505--Notice of Intent to Sole Source Blood Products & Reference Testing - NIHCS

The Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 10, Northern Indiana VA Health Care System, intends to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price, five-year Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity contract to the American National Red Cross for blood products and reference laboratory testing services, with an estimated total value of $320,000 over the contract period. This action is justified under FAR 6.302-1, as the Red Cross is the only responsible source capable of meeting the critical requirement of a two-hour turnaround time for blood product delivery and lab testing, a necessity enabled by its proximity to the Marion, Indiana facility. The contract will replace existing arrangements, leveraging the vendor’s long-standing performance history and cost-effective courier logistics. No competitive solicitation is being issued; instead, this notice serves as a public opportunity for potential competitors to provide clear and convincing evidence that full and open competition would be advantageous to the government, with responses due by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 2, 2026, submitted exclusively via email to the designated Contract Specialist. The NAICS code for this procurement is 621991, and while the contract structure allows for orders over five years, no detailed line-item pricing, packaging standards, inspection protocols, or specific technical specifications beyond service reliability and timing are outlined. Acceptance of deliverables occurs at the VA facility in Marion, with the government retaining authority to inspect and approve all shipments based on performance consistency, and no alternative vendors are currently recognized as capable of fulfilling the operational demands. The contracting office is located in Kettering, Ohio, and no attachments, formal clauses beyond the sole-source justification, or socioeconomic status disclosures are included in the documentation.