Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

Bausch & Lomb offers medical equipment and supplies that are used during vitrectomy or cataract procedures. The supplies consist of hose, lens, needles, bipolar cautery, laser probes, and viscous fluid control pack and other ancillaries. These supplies are used in tandem with the Bausch & Lomb equipment the equipment helps power, provide feedback, and regulate pressures during surgical procedures. A vitrectomy is a type of eye surgery to treat various problems with the retina and vitreous. During surgery, a surgeon removes the vitreous and replaces it with another solution. The vitreous is a gel-like substance that fills the middle portion of your eye. Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens of the eye that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract, and its replacement with an intraocular lens.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for medical supplies or medical services necessary for the delivery of care and treatment at medical, dental, or veterinary teaching facilities utilized by SIU or U of I (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b-5)) Bausch & Lomb has to do with direct patient treatment and care. Without access to these specific supplies the Hospital would not be able to offer vitrectomy or cataract procedures that in turn would drive patients else where and result in a loss of revenue to the Hospital.