EMERGENCY EXTENSION 2: IVHL Pharmacy Services

The State of Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs is executing an emergency extension for pharmacy services at the Illinois Veterans' Home at LaSalle, a 190-bed skilled nursing facility serving Illinois veterans located in St. Clair County. This emergency contract extension runs from January 14, 2026 through April 13, 2026 and is being extended to allow for completion of a two-week bid protest period following a new competitive solicitation (IFB B-48971) and to facilitate the transition of services to a new vendor, with new services anticipated to commence around March 1, 2026. The contractor must provide comprehensive pharmacy services in full compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations, including a calendar cycle refill system available twenty-four hours daily, seven days per week, 365 days per year with refill-on-demand capability. Deliverables include provision and maintenance of secure medication carts with appropriate narcotic lock boxes, quarterly maintenance and inspection of all carts and related materials, and medication delivery six days per week. The estimated contract extension value is $150,000, matching the original contract amount. The posting date was January 7, 2026, with a due date of January 21, 2026.

No Business Enterprise Program (BEP) or Veterans Business Program (VBP) set-asides or participation requirements apply to this emergency extension contract. The incumbent contractor is JHC Acquisition, LLC d/b/a Omnicare of Northern Illinois, which has been providing pharmacy services under the original emergency contract (B-48698) from July 18, 2025 through October 15, 2025, and a subsequent extension (B-49330) from October 16, 2025 through January 13, 2026. The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs documented that Omnicare cannot utilize BEP vendors due to an exclusive wholesale supplier agreement with McKesson, in-house delivery operations staffed exclusively by company employees, and patient safety and continuity of care requirements regarding prescription dispensing through multiple pharmacy locations. The agency conducted outreach to five BEP vendors in July 2025, all of whom declined participation citing the short contract duration or inability to provide required services. The emergency contract was necessitated when the previous vendor's BEP goals were denied a waiver, and without this extension, the facility would be unable to provide vital prescription medications to veterans, creating a threat to resident health and safety.