Inactive

Veterans Health Affairs, Network Contracting Office 5, is issuing this sources sought notice in order to identify sources that have the resources and capabilities to provide laundry/linen services. ST... Veterans Health Affairs, Network Contracting Office 5, is issuing this sources sought notice in order to identify sources that have the resources and capabilities to provide laundry/linen services. STATEMENT OF WORK LINEN SERVICES GENERAL. Contractor shall furnish all labor, supervision materials, and equipment necessary to accomplish complete Linen Services for Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Fisher House at 50 Irving Street, Washington, DC. Offers shall be submitted on a unit price per pound of services laundry (clean weight). 2. COMPLIANCE STANDARDS a. All workmanship shall be in accordance with practices/guidelines established by the Association for Linen Management (ALM) and accepted industry standards. It is intended that services shall include all processes necessary for the laundering and finishing of the articles even though every step involved is not specifically mentioned. b. All work shall be performed under sanitary conditions as specified by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). c. Physical separation, through the presence of a barrier wall and the use of pass-through equipment is required to maintain positive air pressure in the clean section relative to a negative air pressure in the soiled section. d. In no case shall clean and soiled linen share the same physical space. The Laundry Plant layout/design incorporates a design for asepsis whereby clean linen neither comes into contact with soiled linens nor shares the same physical space, thus avoiding cross-contamination and/or reintroduction of bacteria once processed. e. The Laundry Plant shall be open to inspection of sanitary conditions by Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) Fisher House representatives. f. After processing, laundered articles shall be in serviceable and sanitary condition, meeting established quality and performance requirement standards. g. Bidders must provide copy of policies and procedures evidencing Compliance. 3. PICK UP AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE Fisher House located at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) Main Campus: Contractor is to pickup soiled linens on Tuesday and returned cleaned linen on Thursday. Likewise soiled linen pickup on Thursday will be returned on Tuesday of following week. i. Contractor will pick up soiled laundry two days per week, (Tuesday and Thursday) excluding all holidays, from the rear of the Fisher House located on Irving Street on the campus of the Washington D.C.VAMC at 50 Irving Street N.W.Washington D.C. 20422. ii. Contractor will provide delivery of clean linen two days per week, (Tuesday and Thursday) excluding all holidays. iii. All exchanges should be completed at agreed to time. 4. ADDITIONAL AS-NEEDED SERVICES Due to the possible variations of patient census and emergent situations, additional services may be required on an as-needed basis. These additional services will be provided by the Contractor at no additional cost. 5. LINEN CARTS a. Contractor shall supply all carts required for the delivery of clean linen as well as carts for the pick-up of soiled linen. b. The Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) designee, prior to the beginning of the service, shall approve all carts supplied by the Contractor. Carts will be of generally uniform weight and size with exact dry weight prominently marked on the exterior. c. The Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) designee may at any time, during the contract, declare a laundry cart as unsuitable for service and Contractor must replace the unfit cart by the next scheduled delivery. d. All carts will be covered in transit. e. All carts and other equipment must be appropriately cleaned and sanitized between loads or uses. f. Please submit a written copy of the procedure used for cleaning and sanitizing carts and other equipment. 6. PRODUCT INTEGRITY . Bidder will disinfect transport trailers with a Tuberculocidal Germicide following the removal of soiled linen and prior to placement of clean linen. 7. CONTINGENCY SERVICE PLAN a. Contractors are required to have a contingency service plan to cover plant operation, delivery, and pick up of laundry during periods of disruption due to plant malfunction, labor disputes, natural disasters, or personnel shortages due to vacation, or sick leave. It is important that service not be disrupted. b. Contractor must be able to provide service to all facilities listed herein as described in this document or covered by any subsequent scope modifications, regardless of labor levels at Contractor s plant. c. Please submit a written copy of your contingency service plan with your bid. 8. RAGOUT a. All linen deemed unserviceable by the vendor will be laundered, separated, and returned to Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) in separate packaging for inspection and / or disposal. b. This linen should be packaged and identified as ragout so that the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) designee will know that it is unserviceable. Contractor must submit a monthly ragout report that will identify the quantity of ragout by type of item laundered, and indicate the percent of ragout of each type of item. c. Submit report to Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) designee. 9. STAINED LINEN ITEMS a. Any stained linen deemed by the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) designee to still be serviceable, will be returned to the Contractor for reprocessing and credit. b. This linen should be packaged and identified as stained so that the Contractor will know that it is unacceptable. 10. EQUIPMENT AND STAFF a. Contractor shall have adequate equipment and staff to process weekly pounds of 1,000 soiled weights. b. WORKLOAD ANALYSIS: i. Full dry 64.3% ii. Condition/Flat Work 35.7% c. Prospective bidders may inspect the types of articles to be serviced and Contracting Officer or COTR will make inspection arrangements. d. Please attach description of equipment and copies of procedures that will guarantee the above processing. 11. LINEN HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS a. Fitted Sheets are to be cleaned, dried, and kept separate from other items. b. Flat Sheets - are to be cleaned, dried, and kept separate from other items. c. Mattress Pads/protectors are to be cleaned, dried, and kept separate from other items. d. Comforters to be dry cleaned and folded. e. Bath Towels to be cleaned, dried and kept separate from other items. f. Hand Towels - to be cleaned, dried and kept separate from other items. g. Wash Clothes - to be cleaned, dried and kept separate from other items. h. Bath Mats - to be cleaned, dried and kept separate from other items. i. Kitchen Towels - to be cleaned, dried and kept separate from other items. 12. KEEP-SEPARATE HANDLING a. All Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) linen should be processed separately from other linen using keep-separate techniques. b. The Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) reserves the right to visit Contractor s plant at any time to ensure that the Contractor is using the proper procedures to process the MEDVAMC s linen separately from any and all other linen. 13. ACCURACY OF SCALES a. Contractor s scales will be serviced and certified according to the requirements of the Department of Weights and Measures and the copy of the service and adjustments will be provided to the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC). b. Please attach copy of the certification to your bid. 14. ITEMS FOUND IN LINEN a. Photos and written reports of hazardous items, personal items (billfolds, jewelry, glasses, dental devices, etc.), medical items (splints, etc), found in the soiled linen carts should be submitted to Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) promptly every day. b. Personal items (billfolds, jewelry, glasses, dental devices, etc.), medical items (splints, etc), found in the soiled linen carts should be safely packaged and returned to the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) promptly. c. Any hazardous item (sharps, etc.) found in the soiled linen should be documented with a photo and then properly disposed of by Contractor. d. Please describe your company s procedure for lost and found items, and attach copy of the written procedure to your bid. 15. HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCEDURES a. Bidder must ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect bidder s work force from injury. Please describe your company s health and safety policies and attach copy of procedures with this bid. b. Universal Precautions - Soiled linen, including contaminated or isolation laundry, is to be laundered using Universal Precautions. c. Please describe the laundering process used by your company that would deal with Universal Body Substance Precautions and submit copy with your bid. 16. FINISHING PROCESSES a. The following articles shall be flatwork ironed and folded: i. Pillow Cases ii. Flat Sheets b. The following articles shall be dried and folded: i. Bedspreads ii. Bath Towels iii. Hand Towels iv. Blankets v. Fitted Sheets c. The following item shall be dry-cleaned and folded - Comforters 17. MENDING AND PATCHING SERVICES. Contractor shall return all items that may require mending or patching to the COTR, in a separate container, prior to mending or patching, for directions and approval. 18. WEIGHT VERIFICATION a. Upon delivery of clean linen by Contractor to Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) laundry site, the driver will weigh and record the weights and numbers of each cart containing the clean linen. The weights will be confirmed by Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) Laundry staff. c. The initials of each will be recorded on the shipping manifest. 19. PACKING SLIP AND MANIFEST a. A packing slip should be attached to each cart indicating item description, par levels, actual verified quantities (pieces), cart number, total net and gross weight, and packer s initials (legible). b. If any cart does not have the required packing slip, or if any part of the packing slip does not meet these requirements, or if the returned items do not match the count of the packing slips, the Contractor will be required to pick up the cart and return it with the proper quantity of clean linen to match the attached packing slip. c. The cart must be returned to the designated site by 10:00AM the same day. A consolidated manifest is required for each delivery. 20. SECURITY a. After each trailer is loaded and ready for transport, Contractor will lock and seal each trailer utilizing padlock and numbered seal. Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (D.C.VAMC) personnel will verify that each trailer is received padlocked. INTERESTED & CAPABLE RESPONSES: NCO 5 is seeking responses from businesses that are interested in this procurement and consider themselves to have the resources and capabilities necessary to provide these products. Please respond with your: Business name, business type, socio-economic status (e.g., Veteran-Owned, Woman-Owned, Disadvantaged Small Business, 8(a), etc.), person of contact (including telephone number & email address), GSA Contract number (if applicable), and DUNS number Capability statement Responses must be submitted by 1:00 PM (EDT) December 12, 2022. Responses to the information requested above may be submitted via email to Charles.willis@va.gov. This request for sources sought notice is for planning purposes ONLY. The results of this market research will assist in the development of (1) the requirement, and (2) the acquisition strategy (e.g., small business set-aside, full and open competition, etc.). VA assumes no responsibility for any costs incurred associated with the preparation of responses submitted as a result of this notice.