NOI RML Regional Referral Hospital Care and Isolation Unit Services

POP - 10/29/2026 to 03/28/2026 

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code: 622110- General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: 

This is a Notice of Intent notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Division of Safety manages the emergency response protocols for potential high-risk pathogen exposures of personnel working in high and/or maximum containment laboratories at the NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. These emergency response protocols are required to have patient isolation services at a licensed medical facility by a federal lawsuit settlement agreement and to remain in compliance with the incident response requirements of the federal select agent regulations. Having these mission critical safety services in place allows RML to continue emerging disease research in support of the mission of NIH and HHS.  

In 2006, the NIH awarded a contract to Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana to construct a Care and Isolation Unit to provide patient isolation services for personal potentially exposed to high-risk pathogens from the RML high and/or maximum containment labs. This was required by a federal lawsuit settlement agreement to provide patient isolation services at a licensed medical facility within 75 miles of RML [Coalition for a Safe Lab v. National Institutes of Health, CV-04-158-M-DWM (D. Mont. 2004)]. These services are also required to remain in compliance with the incident response requirements of the federal select agent regulations [42 CFR Part 73, 9 CFR Part 121, and 7 CFR Part 331]. The NIH has continued to renew this contract to continue providing these critical safety services for the past 20 years to remain in compliance with both the lawsuit settlement agreement and the federal select agent regulations. Providence St. Patrick Hospital is the only medical facility within the required 75 mile radius that can provide these specialized services. This project will allow the NIH and RML to continue to provide these mandatory safety services to the RML and local Montana communities.  

This is a Notice of Intent; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate a sole source contract for the RML Regional Referral Hospital Care and Isolation Unit Services with: 

PROVIDENCE ST PATRICK HOSPITAL 

500 WEST BROADWAY ST.  

MISSOULA, MT 59802 

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302.1(b)(1)(i) “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency Requirements.”, no substitutions possible. Since the intent is to procure this on a sole source basis, no solicitation will be posted to Contract Opportunities, https://www.sam.gov. 

REQUIREMENT: The purpose of this requirement is to provide care and isolation services for RML personnel who may experience potential high-risk exposures to pathogens from working in the high and/or maximum containment laboratories.  

The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personnel services necessary to perform the required support as defined in the Statement of Work (SOW) except for those items specified as government property, information and services furnished. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.  

The Care and Isolation Unit shall be located at a Regional Referral Hospital (RRH) within a 75-mile radius of RML in Hamilton, Montana. 

The RRH shall have an infectious disease specialist available for consultation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The infectious disease specialist will work with NIH personnel to determine an appropriate course of action and potential treatments. 

If clinical evaluation in the RRH is warranted, the infectious disease specialist will activate a plan to have the Care and Isolation Unit available for use by RML staff as soon as possible but not more than six (6) hours from the request. 

The RRH shall be prepared to evaluate injured or ill RML staff in a negative pressure room for clinical or laboratory evidence of infection. The evaluation may involve obtaining and processing clinical specimens. 

If in-patient care is clinically warranted, the RRH shall be able to safely provide the full range of standard intensive care clinical services for RML staff in the Care and Isolation Unit for a minimum of 3 days (72 hours). 

The Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana provides critical services as the Regional Referral Hospital for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) Integrated Research Facility located in Hamilton, Montana. These services are required to staff and maintain the Care and Isolation Unit that is used in the event of any potential exposure(s) of RML personnel to dangerous pathogens in high and maximum containment research labs. Although the likelihood of such exposures is low due to multiple redundant safety practices, procedures and engineering controls, the impact can be catastrophic resulting in severe illness or even death. Therefore, special Care and Isolation Units are required to provide medical treatment for individuals with these types of exposures by dedicated health care providers and support teams within specialized containment hospital suites. This is a component of the incident response requirements of the federal select agent regulations [42 CFR Part 73, 9 CFR Part 121, and 7 CFR Part 331]. In addition, the establishment and maintenance of this Care and Isolation Unit through the Providence St. Patrick Hospital is a requirement of a lawsuit settlement agreement [Coalition for a Safe Lab v. National Institutes of Health, CV-04-158-M-DWM (D. Mont. 2004)]. If this contract is not renewed it will immediately put NIH RML out of compliance with both the federal select agent regulations and Montana District Court lawsuit settlement agreement. This award protects the health and safety of both NIH employees and the surrounding communities in Montana. 

Only one award will be made as a result of this notice, and the award will be a Firm-Fixed price purchase order. This will be the only notice of the Government’s intent to solicit, negotiate, and award to one source to satisfy this requirement. The Government plans to award a purchase order for this requirement within five (5) days of closing this notice. 

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS.  All responsible, qualified sources who can provide the equipment and service should submit a capability statement electronically to the Contracting Officer, Linda Smith at linda.smith2@nih.gov and Acquisition Specialist, Jessica Emerson (Contractor Support) at jessica.emerson@nih.gov by 1:00 PM EST on October 10, 2026.  Facsimile responses are NOT accepted. Any responses received by NIH after this date and exact time specified are late and will not be considered. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.   

DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: 

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  

CONFIDENTIALITY: 

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).