April 17 (UPI) — The Army closed out the week with another round of contracts — totaling $635.1 million — to aid in the effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Pentagon.
The Army awarded $586 million in contract modifications to 10 different companies in an omnibus deal the Department of Defense said was “in support of the presidential national emergency declaration concerning the novel coronavirus disease.”
The deal modifies a previous contract, in the amount of $990 million, awarded in 2015 for “operations and maintenance services at government medical and related non-medical facilities including hospitals, clinics, administrative, pharmacies, veterinarian, dental, training, research, utility and energy plants, labs and storage facilities, as well as some nonmedical facilities associated with these medical facilities.”
The modification include options that raise the total ceiling of the deal — now worth $1.57 million — to $1.67 million.
The 2015 deal had an estimated completion date of February 2020; work on the modification has an estimated completion date of Aug. 11, 2020.
The umbrella contract is similar to others awarded in the last two weeks as DoD officials have sought to curtail the virus.
Also on Friday, the Army awarded $37.1 million to Stafford, Texas-based Golden Max LLC for infusion pump kits for the COVID-19 effort.
Work locations on the deal will determined with each order, which has an estimated completion date of April 19, 2021.
An infusion pump is a medical device that delivers fluids, such as nutrients and medications, into a patient’s body in controlled amounts at a steady rate.
Infusion pumps are common in hospitals, nursing homes and even in-home care, but healthcare leaders have warned of a looming shortage due to COVID-19, as many patients with the virus need continuous infusions of medication, fluids and nutrition.
