Emergency Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Audit of the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Award Process for a Contract With Davison Motor Company, Inc.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The audit is one of several reviews of procurements by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and other components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. 

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) provide, among other things, that HHS agencies award each contract to a responsible party and document compliance with requirements for full and open competition and the determination that the price was fair and reasonable.  

As part of HHS's hurricane relief operations, NHLBI awarded a contract to Davison Motor Company, Inc. (Davison), to deliver an electric generator and fuel to the NIH research facility in Covington, Louisiana.  Our objective was to determine whether NHLBI complied with FAR and HHSAR requirements during the award process involving Davison.  NHLBI complied with the requirements.