Alcon Unity Equipment

The Department of Veterans Affairs, through Network Contract Office 7, has issued a sole source award to O.R. Elder, Inc., a certified service-disabled veteran-owned small business, for the procurement of two Alcon Unity Vitreoretinal Cataract Systems (VCS), part number 900484665. This acquisition is intended for the Birmingham VA Medical Center to replace an obsolete and unreliable PHACO system. The Alcon Unity VCS was selected because it is the only integrated platform capable of performing both vitreoretinal and cataract surgeries with the required efficiency and stability, possessing unique salient characteristics that market research confirmed are not available from other manufacturers. The contract is established as a firm-fixed-price supply purchase order under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 8127(c) and VAAR 819.7008. Performance and delivery are designated for Birmingham, Alabama, where the equipment will be installed for the Ophthalmology Service Line. While the award is finalized, specific pricing and delivery timelines were not disclosed in the provided documentation. The procurement process bypassed competitive evaluation factors, relying instead on a Justification and Approval (J&A) process to validate the sole source necessity and the contractor's SDVOSB status.