Medical consultant for surveillance of Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

Title: Medical consultant for surveillance of Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease

Solicitation Number: 1000165769

1. The Purpose and Explanation of an ACAN An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows the Public Health Agency of Canada to post a notice for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that a goods, services or construction contract will be awarded to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the minimum requirements identified in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed to award a contract to the pre-identified contractor.

2. Rights of Suppliers Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services or goods described in this ACAN may submit a Statement of Capabilities demonstrating how they meet the advertised requirement. This Statement of Capabilities must be provided via e-mail only to the contact person identified in Section 12 of the Notice on or before the closing date and time of the Notice. If the Bidder can clearly demonstrate they possess the required capabilities, the requirement will be opened to electronic or traditional bidding processes.

3. Proposed Contractor Gerard Jansen 100 Rothwell Drive Ottawa, Ontario, K1J 8L9 Canada Operating as: Dr. Gerard H. Jansen

4. Definition of Requirements or Expected Results The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) requires specialized medical consulting services, to conduct expert diagnostic analysis of medical information to support its national surveillance system for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJDSS). Timely analysis and management of these results is critical to the function of the CJDSS, as the disease is nationally notifiable and provincially reportable, and the surveillance database is normally updated on a weekly basis. Updates are published monthly on the PHAC website to assist federal and provincial public health officials in tracking the occurrence of CJD in Canada. Summary data from the database are also shared internationally through a partnership of national CJD surveillance systems (European Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease Surveillance Network, EUROCJD), of which the CJDSS is a member, and through the WHO-supported International Health Regulations network, to which Canada is a signatory. Liaison with Canadian public health partners and international organizations is an essential part of meeting PHAC’s ongoing commitment to world-class surveillance for this family of rare, fatal, transmissible neurological diseases, and the consultant will assist in maintaining this liaison.

1. The medical consultant will work as required in cooperation with

i) the Director of the CJDSS;

ii) the staff of the CJDSS Coordination Office located at PHAC (Ottawa); and

iii) physicians caring for patients suspected of having CJD;

2. The medical consultant must

i. classify patients suspected of having CJD (estimated 80-100 referrals per year) into categories of diagnostic certainty, by:

• reviewing laboratory data, clinical findings, imaging results (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG) data, medical charts, questionnaires, and pathology reports;

• interpreting findings; and

• making a final diagnostic decision on case classification;

ii. extract data from case files (EEG data, MRI results, time of disease onset, etc.; estimated 40–60 cases per year for input by the CJDSS database manager;

iii. produce monthly data for EUROCJD and statistical summaries for PHAC;

iv. Provide ongoing feedback to the CJDSS staff nurses on content and quality of intake questionnaires, patient charts, medical record reviews and questionnaires;

v. share expertise and information with the CJDSS Director and other CJDSS staff, to assist in their continuing education regarding CJD; and

vi. Maintain external contacts with EUROCJD and other collaborators as required by the Project Authority.

5. Minimum Requirements Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that it meets the following minimum requirements:

1. The consultant must demonstrate extensive knowledge and experience in the medical field of human prion diseases and all aspects of their diagnosis and surveillance (including diagnostic pathology, neurology, laboratory testing, hospital safety and epidemiology), as well as mastery of current scientific information regarding their diversity and biological causes.

2. The consultant must be licensed to practise by a recognized licensing body (such as the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons) in a relevant field of medicine (neuropathology or neurology) in a province or territory of Canada, and must be certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

3. The consultant must be capable of completing the work on case files in a timely manner, typically for routine cases within one month of the CJDSS surveillance team completing the data-gathering for the file. This will require weekly personal visits to the CJDSS office.

4. In emergency situations in which time is of the essence (e.g., suspected variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or instances in which there is an identified risk of disease transmission), the consultant will work with the CJDSS, consulting with other experts if necessary, to reach a final diagnosis within one week of the time at which all relevant data have been received, subject to the discretion of the Director, CJDSS. At the discretion of the Director, the consultant may be required to visit the CJDSS office within 24 hours of notification of such a situation.

6. Reason for Non-Competitive Award Section 6 (d) of the Government Contracts Regulations applies as only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.

7. Applicable trade Agreements and Justification for Limited Tendering or the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business This procurement is subject to the following: * Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) * World Trade Organization (WTO) * North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property The following exception applies, as indicated in the Treasury Board's Policy on Title to Intellectual Property Arising under Canada Procurement Contracts: Canada will own all intellectual property rights in foreground information for the following reasons: 6.4 the main purpose of the Contract, or of the deliverables contracted for, is to generate knowledge and information for public dissemination.

9. Period of the Proposed Contract

The contract period shall be from date of contract award until the 31st of March, 2016, with the option to extend the contract for three additional one year periods.

10. Estimated Value of the Proposed Contract The total estimated value of the proposed contract should not exceed $72,546.00 CAD, including all applicable taxes. However, the contract will include three option years at a maximum of $62,150.00 CAD for the first option year; $62,150.00 CAD for the second option year; and $62,150.00 for the third option year, for a maximum total potential contract value of $258,996.00 CAD, including all applicable taxes.

11. Closing Date and Time

The Closing Date and Time for accepting Statements of Capabilities is 2PM EST, February 23rdh, 2015.

12. Contact Person

All enquiries must be addressed by e-mail to: Name: Shari Rochon E-Mail: shari.rochon@hc-sc.gc.ca