General Electric Co. is suing the West Feliciana Parish Hospital in federal court, alleging the St. Francisville health care facility that is undergoing a $27.7 million expansion violated Louisiana’s public bid laws.
In December, the publicly traded New York-based conglomerate, through its GE Healthcare Division, responded to the hospital’s invitation for bids on medical equipment, including an MRI, CT scanner, X-ray unit and other equipment needed to integrate with its existing clinical and business systems.
According to GE, three companies bid on the project, but in February, the hospital—citing deficiencies—rejected all three. In that round, GE allegedly was disqualified on a technicality, having forgotten to acknowledge one of the addenda on its bid form.
In a subsequent round of bidding, GE alleges the contract was awarded to Hitachi Medical Systems America, even though it offered an X-ray, image file storage and MRI that GE claims in its lawsuit did not meet specifications. The latter, it alleges, will potentially limit imaging capabilities of patients with implants.
“GE proposed a product that met the published specification,” GE’s lawyers argue, “while Hitachi was allowed to propose a product that failed to meet the required specification.”
According to court filings, GE’s bid on the project was nearly $2.4 million, while Hitachi’s was nearly $2.2 million. The highest bidder, Siemens Medical Solutions, came in at just below $2.6 million. Attorneys for GE claim the hospital “gave Hitachi an unfair advantage in the bid process, in violation of the Public Bid Law.”
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge John deGravelles. GE asks the judge to award it the contract, as well as damages and legal fees.
The hospital recently broke ground on a new $27.7 million facility on its 19-acre medical campus, scheduled for completion in the spring of 2017. The 53,000-square-foot new hospital building will be located on Burnett Road.
West Feliciana Hospital CEO Lee Chastant III tells Daily Report the hospital’s attorneys are formulating a response to the lawsuit. “We really don’t know yet what the situation is for us,” he says.
—Penny Font
