Medical grade oxygen supply for the NIH Clinical Center (Notice of Intent to sole source)

Acquisition Description:

This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for proposal.  The National Institute of Health, Clinical Center (NIH-CC) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with the following vendor: Linde Gas & Equipment Inc. (aka Praxair Inc.)

The NIH Clinical Center needs to contract bulk oxygen supplies for the main campus facilities and the CRC hospital. The contractor would be providing the delivery, and install of Bulk Oxygen tanks to be used as our supply of oxygen to patients. This requirement is based on the need for providing all needed components to support a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified bulk oxygen main supply system for medical gas in accordance with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 99. The contract will be based on rental of a 6000 gallon main tank, 500 gallon reserve and a separately located 500 gallon redundant reserve tank. The contract shall include all required components of the bulk oxygen supply including oxygen delivery, preventive maintenance, routine service, equipment repair, annual inspection, certification and training, and emergency service of the bulk systems. The supply systems will be located at the existing pad locations at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda Maryland. The system must be maintained to ensure uninterrupted supply of oxygen to this multi-million dollar medical center.

Justification:

Linde Gas & Equipment Inc. (aka Praxair) has historically provided bulk gas supplies to the NIH, and has provided excellent service, testing and inspection of provided oxygen systems to ensure continued usage with no interruptions. The NIH is currently using storage systems/equipment installed by this vendor, and it would be time consuming and costly to remove them if we are to switch to another vendor. The equipment provided, medical oxygen, is critical to care of patients in several locations throughout the clinical center. Interruption to service due to change of service provider carries large risks to the vulnerable patient population and would come at a great additional expense due to need to provide services in transition.

We are unaware of any other bulk supplier of oxygen at this time that can provide the requirements specified in the Statement of Work (SOW) with the necessary qualifications and timeframe.

Requirement:

See Statement of Work (SOW) for details.

Place of Performance or Delivery:

The estimated Period of Performance is:

Base year: September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026

Option Year 1: September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027

Option Year 2: September 1, 2027 through August 31, 2028

Option Year 3: September 1, 2028 through August 31, 2029

Place of Performance: NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 1901 (a) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.  All responsible sources that could provide the required may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NOI-CC-25-006782) by 11:00 AM eastern standard time on 07/28/2025 to: lu-chang.lu@nih.gov

All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.