3 bid to build mobile unit

Staff report

austintown

Three Ohio companies bid to build district’s mobile medical unit.

Farber Specialty Vehicle of Columbus, OBS Inc. of Canton and LifeLine Mobile Inc. of Columbus each submitted bids, before Friday’s closing date, to construct the Falcon Mobile Medical Unit.

The bids range from $245,000 to almost $333,000 and will be paid for from a $500,000 grant the district received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Affordable Care Act for health-care services.

The highest bid was from LifeLine Mobile at $332,575. Farber Specialty Vehicle came in with $309,253 and OBS had the lowest bid at $245,075.

Barb Kliner, the district’s director of grants and fiscal services, said the bids can not be compared solely by price.

“I will be reading every word” of the proposals, she said.

Kliner will make her recommendation to the board in January.

The 35- to 40-foot-long mobile unit will have two exam rooms, a reception area, wheelchair lift and latest technology, including flat-screen televisions, computers and X-ray equipment.

Its primary function will be to serve Austintown students, but it can be used as additional back-up service at athletic events and to outreach into the community.

“We’ll do it in baby steps,” said Kliner.

The district is looking to partner with local health care providers to staff the mobile medical facility. Funds from the grant are only available for medical equipment.