Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner (DME) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a qualified non-profit tissue bank agency or recovery organization, as defined by the California Uniform Anatomical Gift Act ("UAGA") that have appropriate tissue collection and distribution experience, medical affiliations in the community, organizational expertise, the financial capacity to provide resources for human tissue and part collection at the DME and at the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services Hospitals. The primary mission of the Medical Examiner is to inquire into and determine the cause, manner and circumstances of all unnatural, suspicious, unusual, violent, sudden and unattended deaths. The cause of death is determined by investigation, post-mortem examination and laboratory testing. In addition to the DME’s main mission, the DME manages and coordinates such programs as Tissue Collection Services, the Forensic Pathology Resident Training Program, and the Youthful Drunk Driver Visitation Program. The County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services (DHS), through its hospitals, provides health care and medical services to its patients. DHS Facilities also need tissue collection and distribution services. In Southern California, the need for human tissues and parts for therapy and transplantation far exceeds the supply. The County of Los Angeles DHS, in particular, requires a large regular supply of corneal and other types of human tissue and parts to meet the community's medical need. Additionally, the DME and DHS are the largest single source of human tissue and part recovery in the County. As part of this RFP the County requires a significant percentage of human tissues and parts recovered by the tissue bank or recovery organization and its tissue bank partners, if any, to be made available at no cost to low income patients at County hospitals and elsewhere in the community.
