The awarding of a Luzerne County government bid to deliver bulk orders of adult diapers, nutritional drinks and other products to elderly residents has prompted criticism.
Dallas resident Mary Kosek, who handles bidding for Medline, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical products, said Wednesday she has contacted the state Auditor General Department and a state aging agency seeking a review on the county’s decision to reject her company’s low bid.
Medline’s bid was $48,508 to provide the supplies in 2017. Mountain Top-based PM Medical was awarded the contract with a bid of $87,434, officials said.
In response to Kosek’s recent email complaints about the matter to county council members and the media, county Manager C. David Pedri said the county had grounds to reject Medline’s bid because the company would not ensure the items were carried inside clients’ homes.
“It was actually in black and white in bold and underlined in the actual request-for-proposals,” Pedri told the council members at their Tuesday meeting.
The bid request says “delivery must be made directly to consumer, not shipped.” Pedri said elderly clients often can’t lift heavy boxes of Ensure shakes or other bulky items.
Aging services, including the supplies, are funded by state lottery revenue and other state sources, not the county general fund, Pedri said.
Kosek said her company relies on FedEx for home deliveries and could require signatures to make sure items are not left on a porch or doorstep without a client’s knowledge.
She questions the county Area Agency on Aging’s willingness to spend $38,926 more solely for the items to be carried inside homes.
Her company delivers products to elderly clients through FedEx for many other accounts, and this is generally accepted practice because caregivers or loved ones can make sure the items are carried inside and removed from boxes, she said.
“It would be one thing if the difference was $3,000, but almost $40,000 is a big difference for one year,” said Kosek.
Pete Mailloux, owner of PM Medical, which was awarded the county contract for years, said the in-home delivery caused his bid to be higher but is worth the investment.
“Many of these customers are old and frail. They can’t just take a delivery box and carry it in themselves,” he said.
Mailloux said he must factor in additional time for his delivery workers to help and visit with customers, including one who prepares a to-do list for the delivery worker that has included changing a curtain rod and hooking up a television antenna.
He once fixed the door lock for a 100-year-old customer in Hazleton during a delivery, and many customers count on the delivery workers to carry their items up stairs and unpack them, with some directing a certain number of shakes for refrigeration, he said.
“We’re providing more of a human service, as opposed to drop-shipping,” Mailloux said. “It’s the best way to take care of these folks. The goal is to keep people in their homes so they’re not forced to go into a nursing home.”
Kosek said she decided to go public with her concerns because her company responded to the bid for the first time in good faith, saved the county money and was “thwarted by an obscurity.” She told the council in her email she is a lifelong county resident, and her patience to tolerate government corruption has worn “so thin that I have broken.” She said her county also is “teetering financially” and imposed property tax increases.
“I feel that the entire bid process should be looked at, since it seems at least in my small case – an intentional undermining has taken place,” she wrote.
Pedri told the council he welcomes all bids but cautioned submissions will be deemed invalid if they don’t “exactly” follow specifications.
