Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

The nurse call system helps healthcare providers serve their patients more attentively and efficiently. These systems use technology to facilitate communication between healthcare providers and their patients to improve responsiveness, levels of care, operational efficiency, and patient satisfaction. A nurse call button is a button or cord found in hospitals where patients are at their most vulnerable, such as their bedside and in the bathroom. The patient will push a button on the hand held controller. It allows patients in health care settings to alert a nurse or other health care staff members remotely for help. When the button is pressed, a signal alerts staff at the nurse's station, and a nurse or nurse assistant responds.

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)) The nurse call system has to do with direct patient treatment and care. Without access to this nurse call system, the Hospital would not be able to offer safe patient care that in turn would drive patients elsewhere and result in a loss of revenue to the Hospital.