• What is the ministry’s intended purpose behind this pricing extension to the health and BPS clients? Has this initiative been established to support such clients in building their own stockpiles, and/or for ongoing supply?
• What direction has been provided to health and BPS clients in this area thus far?
• How is the term “Broader Public Sector Clients” defined? Can the ministry provide a list of all health and BPS clients?
• How will the health and BPS clients identify themselves to vendors and what is the mechanism for validating the information a client provides prior to extending the benefits of the ministry’s contract?
• Can the ministry estimate or confirm volume commitments on behalf of the health and BPS clients? Will health and BPS clients likely conduct large, “one-time” stockpile-related procurements or desire the ability to purchase in smaller volumes on an ongoing basis?
• Can vendors contact BPS clients directly to advise them of this initiative?
• Can the vendors enforce minimum quantities for purchase by BPS clients?
• Can the vendors charge additional transportation fees for delivery of small orders?
• Will the products be shipped to home addresses?
• Will the ministry be supplying some type of “product catalogue” or “brochure” to health and BPS clients? How will the clients know which products they can procure?

The ministry’s intent for this initiative is to support the health and BPS clients in establishing or maintaining their 4-week health emergency stockpiles. Any communications to the clients will emphasize that purpose. To the ministry’s knowledge, health and BPS clients are at varying states of stockpile completion; where some will just be embarking on procurements, others may be nearly completed. This pricing extension by the ministry should offer competitive pricing to the health and BPS clients who may otherwise be financially challenged to put in place their required supplies and equipment stockpiles.

Likewise, the ministry will indicate that the ministry does not intend to cause or endorse the interruption of existing supply chain relationships for regular procurements or ongoing supply as a result of this initiative. The ministry is not requiring, mandating or endorsing procurements by health and BPS clients from the vendors, but rather offering an opportunity to enter into contractual or procurement relationships based on ministry’s competitive pricing.

As stated in the Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic, the ministry has, since 2006, been encouraging health care providers/facilities in the health sector to put in place 4-week stockpiles of infection prevention and control supplies for use during an influenza pandemic or other public health emergency. This expectation is documented in Chapter 10 of the OHPIP at www.health.gov.on.ca/pandemic.

The ministry intends for this pricing extension to primarily benefit health care providers in the health care sector, which includes (but is not limited to): hospitals, community health centres, community care access centres, long-term care homes, public health units, emergency medical services, community laboratories, family physicians and family health teams, pharmacies and dentists. However, as stated in the ministry’s agreements, the Ministry of Government Services BPS definition does allow access to the pricing to clients/agencies/organizations in other sectors (i.e. other government ministries, municipalities, educational facilities). Therefore, any BPS client is entitled to the pricing. The ministry cannot provide a more specific or exhaustive list of BPS clients or agencies. For more information refer http://www.doingbusiness.mgs.gov.on.ca/mbs/psb/psb.nsf/english/bpsdef.html.

As outlined in the process above, any health and BPS client interested in accessing the ministry’s pricing will email the ministry directly. The ministry will verify their eligibility, and provide them with authorization and access to the each of the official “Pricing Sheets” by email or fax. Upon contacting the relevant vendor, that client may quote the vendor’s agreement code, or forward a copy of the ministry’s email or fax to the vendor, validating their entitlement to the pricing.

No, the ministry cannot estimate, confirm or enforce any volume commitments on behalf of the health and BPS clients. However, due to the inherent nature of stockpiling activities, the ministry anticipates that orders will be larger in scale. The ministry also anticipates that most clients will be approaching the vendors as independent facilities, whereas others which are affiliated may attempt a larger volume consolidated stockpiling effort. “One-time” procurements may be a challenge for some clients, if budgetary allocations are spread over multiple years. As such, the vendors should be prepared to be flexible. As outlined above, the ministry’s communications will emphasize usage of this pricing solely for stockpiling purposes.

The ministry intends to pursue several avenues of communication with the health and BPS clients, including notification to sector representatives sitting on the ministry’s Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic Steering Committee; a dedicated section on the ministry’s internet website; notification in the EMB’s monthly newsletter; and updates through the government’s OntarioBuys program area. If the vendors see fit to approach health and BPS clients independently after the official ministry initiative launch, the ministry will not object, but the clients must still secure the official “Pricing Sheets” directly from the ministry.

The ministry will not endorse any minimum quantity procurement limitation for health and BPS clients, except for the case level unit-of-measure. Should the vendor decide to enforce a minimum quantity procurement at the case level, the ministry will include that condition on its pricing information communicated to the clients.

The ministry’s pricing, which includes transportation and shipping, should be upheld wherever reasonable, particularly for those clients who are procuring one-time orders of large volumes. Under certain consequences, the vendors may include fixed transportation charges which may be added in the case of clients who require special or unusual delivery terms; however, the ministry encourages vendors to consider that additional transportation charges may risk a loss of business, as some health and BPS clients are already challenged to allocate funding to procure supplies.

No, the ministry will not encourage procurements from home addresses. It is reasonable to restrict delivery to health and BPS clients at the location of their business.

The information provided by the ministry will be limited to the website content and Pricing Sheets. As per above, the vendor will have an opportunity to give input to the official Pricing Sheets being provided by the ministry to the health and BPS clients. If the vendor would like different information made available in the item list (such as catalogue product numbers or alternate supplier codes), that can be discussed with the ministry. It is the ministry’s expectation that additional product information can be accessed by the clients directly from the vendors upon request.

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