Hospital Patient Food Services

South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital is requesting proposals for comprehensive hospital patient food services for a new 104-bed behavioral health facility in Wichita, Kansas, with proposals due November 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM CST. The contract term is five years from the facility's anticipated January 2027 opening through December 30, 2031, with an option to renew for one additional 60-month period.

The scope encompasses menu planning, nutritional analysis, procurement, food production and preparation, meal service, sanitation, inventory control, and quality assurance for patient meals, staff meals, therapeutic meals, guest services, and catering. Vendors must provide all labor, management, equipment not furnished by the Hospital, and necessary technology; the Hospital supplies operational facilities, major fixed equipment, utilities, and administrative oversight. Bidders must demonstrate financial stability, relevant experience in institutional food service operations, and capacity to meet specialized dietary and security requirements of a mental health facility. All contractors must obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate and complete mandatory State of Kansas registration before the closing date.

Pricing shall be all-inclusive unless separately identified as a contract item. Vendors must separately identify pricing for patient meals, snacks, clinical nourishments, nutritional supplements, staff meals, catering, and other non-standard services. The State does not guarantee a minimum number of meals or patient census, and no monetary bid guarantee is required. Payments are made via electronic funds transfer within 30 days of receipt of goods or services.

Proposals must include both technical and cost components submitted to procurement@ks.gov. Written questions are due November 3, 2026, directed to Procurement Officer Lara J. Williams at lara.j.williams@ks.gov. No pre-bid conference is scheduled. The Procurement Negotiation Committee reserves the right to conduct negotiations with selected bidders or award based on initial proposals, and may award to single or multiple vendors.