The Region of Durham is proposing to extend the contract for purchase of new beds for its long term care homes from a single vendor. The contract over the next five years is worth some $2.73 million.
The conventional practice is to open a tender and to choose from bids from several suppliers.
The region’s Health and Social Services Committee was asked for approval to award the new sole source contract for the supply and delivery of Span Medical Products Canada’s Encore high/low beds and GEO mattresses to Cardinal Health, for use by the Region of Durham’s long-term care homes.
The request was made by the region’s Commissioner of Social Services on June 4 this year.
It asked that the committee recommend to the regional council that the Regional Municipality of Durham enter into a sole source contract… for a term not to exceed five years at an estimated total cost of $2,730,400… with financing coming from the Social Services annual Business Plans and Budgets.
The Single Vendor Rationale
The request said utilizing one consistent bed type for all residents provides a cost effective and safe, resident-focused solution. Each home has a bed renewal program in place to replace bed and mattresses as they become outdated.
The division is striving for consistency of product. The Encore high/low bed is the product of choice, and the
division has been replacing beds with Encore for the past several years, it said.
Canadian Manufacture
Encore beds and GEO Max mattresses are manufactured by Span Medical Products, Inc., and Cardinal Health is the only Canadian distributor, reads the request.
When Durham Post asked the Region of Durham if the beds were sourced from an American operation in light on the ongoing U.S. tariff war, the region said: “The Encore bed, manufactured by Span Medical Products Canada, has been used successfully in our long-term care homes for several years. It is manufactured in Beamsville, Ontario. As a Canadian-made product, it is not subject to tariffs.”
Quebec-based Savaria Corporation acquired Span-America Medical Systems in 2017.