Single Source Procurement: SEP Enhancements for Ending the Epidemic

Pursuant to New York State Finance Law § 163.10(b), The New York State Department of Health is presenting the following summary of relevant circumstances, and material and substantial reasons why a competitive procurement was not feasible.

HIV and AIDS in New York State cannot be addressed without focusing on injection drug users (IDUs) and syringe exchange programs. The Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP) initiative was established in 1992 to address the HIV epidemic in injection drug users. Syringe exchange is the one intervention that can be described as the gold standard of HIV prevention for injecting drug users. The data shows that syringe exchange is one of the most successful HIV prevention initiatives of the AIDS Institute, based on the numbers of lives and health care dollars saved. In 1992, 52 percent of newly diagnosed AIDS cases were among IDUs. In 2014, IDU risk accounted for only 3 percent of new HIV diagnoses.

The NYSDOH AIDS Institute is executing amendments to several Harm Reduction/Syringe Exchange Program contracts for program enhancements to implement the goals for Ending the Epidemic.

  • Component A are one-time enhancements to purchase vehicles used for mobile delivery of services.
  • Component B is a two-year enhancement for a Drug User Health Center pilot project in Staten Island.
  • Component C is a two-year enhancement to create the Buprenorphine Pilot Project in downstate and upstate communities.

For Component A, the agencies will competitively procure the vehicles through bid processes in accordance with the purchasing procedures for each agency. For Components B and C, the majority of the funds will be used to pay salaries and fringe for staff people to work on these two pilot projects, all at rates similar to other positions on these contracts. The remaining OTPS (program supplies, client travel, etc.) are also at rates similar to the costs already established on these contracts.

Procurement / Program Name SEP Enhancements for Ending the Epidemic
Contractor Name(s) Trillium Health, Inc., AIDS Community Resources, Community Health Action of Staten Island, The After Hours Project, Washington Heights CORNER Project, AIDS Council of Northeastern New York
Contract Period 7/1/2016 – 6/30/2018
Contract Number(s) C028470, C028472, C028475, C028487, C028489, C030209