Duke University Health System, Inc.

Duke University Health System, Inc., doing business as Duke University Hospital, operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit academic medical center providing specialized physician services, advanced cancer treatment, medical transport, and emergency medical care to federal agencies as a prime contractor (97% of recent awards). The organization is based in Durham, North Carolina, and functions as a subsidiary of Duke University. Duke competes in full-and-open federal contracting with no set-aside designations across its federal award footprint.

Duke's federal customer base concentrates heavily on two agencies. The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 accounts for 36 awards with $54 million in combined potential value, anchoring Duke's federal footprint with long-term definitive contracts for specialized clinical services. The Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Complex Butner places 73 awards valued at $8.7 million combined potential value, primarily for emergency medical transport and specialized oncology care. These two customers account for 68% of awards by count and 94% of combined potential value across all federal work. Duke has also engaged with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response through grant sub-awards routed via the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Duke's concrete service portfolio centers on high-acuity physician services and specialized medical delivery. Representative recent awards include a $15.8 million definitive contract with VA VISN 6 for radiation oncology services (December 2021 through November 2026), a $7.04 million definitive contract for neurosurgery physician services (April 2024 through October 2026), a $2.5 million contract for board-certified orthopedic physician on-call services at Durham VA Medical Center (February 2025 through January 2030), a $2.3 million anesthesiology physician services contract with VA VISN 6 (awarded April 2026), and a $1.03 million purchase order from Federal Correctional Complex Butner for CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy for blood cancer treatment (awarded May 2025). Smaller transactional awards include medical transport of inmates, air ambulance services, expert witness testimony, and educational expenses. Duke University Health System receives federal grant sub-awards through state intermediaries for hospital preparedness program activities, epidemiologist positions, and medical reserve corps funding, with prime grantees including the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Service Contract Inventory reporting captures Duke's federal services engagement at $8.7 million invoiced across FY2023–FY2024, with 6.3 FTEs delivering work in FY2023 and 9.1 FTEs in FY2024. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $215.68/hr to a median of $338.02/hr, with senior clinical labor pricing reaching $519.04/hr at the 90th percentile. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, Duke self-performed all reported hours with zero subcontractor engagement. Four awards with combined potential value of $25.9 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete opportunity for competitors and recompete exposure for Duke's VA VISN 6 clinical delivery relationships.