Inactive

2 | Page THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended for information and planning purposes only at this time; and sh... 2 | Page THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended for information and planning purposes only at this time; and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Because this is a Request for Information announcement, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. No solicitation exists. Therefore, do not request a copy of a solicitation. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VISN 8, Network Contracting Office 8 (NCO 8), is seeking information and potential qualified sources capable of meeting the following minimum requirements and salient characteristics below for Pneumatic Tube Delivery System Preventative Maintenance Service. Requirements SCOPE: Service technicians shall perform two (2) site visit(s) per year to inspect, clean, adjust, calibrate and lubricate your pneumatic tube system. The labor necessary to replace worn or defective parts shall be included. Equipment maintenance is performed as described and recommended in accordance with the Service Manual for your system, based on cycle counts and equipment usage. Semi-annual preventive maintenance shall be performed. Additionally, technicians shall perform software update and/or confirm software is working properly. Contractor shall furnish all labor, transportation, and parts necessary to provide an on-going support and preventative maintenance agreement of the equipment listed for Pneumatic tube delivery service located at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa Florida. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL SERVICING EQUIPMENT Each respondent must have an established business, with an office and full-time staff to include a Fully Qualified Field Service Engineer (FSE) who will serve as backup. Fully Qualified is based upon training and on experience in the field. For training, the FSE(s) has successfully completed a formalized training program for the equipment identified in the schedule of services. For field experience, the FSE(s) has a minimum of two years experience with respect to scheduled and unscheduled preventative and remedial maintenance of Pevco pneumatic tube delivery system equipment. The FSE shall be authorized by the contractor to perform the maintenance services. All work shall be performed by Fully Qualified competent FSE(s). The contractor shall provide written assurance to the competency of their personnel and a list of credentials of approved FSE(s) for each make and model the contractor services at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital. The Contracting Officer (CO) may authenticate the training requirements and request training certificates or credentials from the contractor at any time for any personnel who are servicing or installing any VA equipment. The CO and/or Contracting Officer s Representative (COR) specifically reserves the right to reject any of the contractor s personnel and refuse them permission to work on the VA equipment. If subcontractors are used, they must be approved in advance by the CO. The contractor shall submit any proposed change in subcontractor(s) to the CO for approval/disapproval. SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED. Service All maintenance will be performed during normal VA business hours (7:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, unless otherwise specified. Contractor may work outside normal business hours by arrangement with the COR if such services are provided without additional charge to the Government. Any overtime charges must be approved by the CO or designee prior to the initiation of overtime work. TEN (10) HOLIDAYS OBSERVED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT New Years Day January 1st Martin Luther King Day 3rd Monday in January Presidents Day 3rd Monday in February Memorial Day Last Monday in May Juneteenth June 19th Independence Day July 4th Labor Day 1st Monday in September Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October Veterans Day November 11th Thanksgiving Last Thursday in November Christmas December 25th The VA shall not provide service manuals or service diagnostic software to the contractor. The contractor shall obtain, have on file, and make available to its FSE(s) all operational and technical documentation (e.g., operational and service manuals, schematics, and parts lists) which are necessary to meet the performance requirements of this contract. The location and listing of the service data manuals, by name, and/or the manuals themselves shall be provided to the CO upon request. Scheduled Maintenance. The contract shall include Two (2) comprehensive scheduled Preventative Maintenance (PM) inspections to be performed. A mutually agreed upon time for the inspections shall be scheduled through the COR s Point of Contact (POC) The contractor shall perform PM Service to ensure that equipment listed in the schedule functions in conformance with the latest published edition of NFPA-99, OSHA, and CDRH. The contractor shall provide and utilize procedures and checklists with worksheet originals indicating work performed and actual values obtained (as applicable) provided to the COR at the completion of each PM. PM procedures shall be submitted to the COR for approval prior to the initiation of this service contract. PM SERVICES SHALL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING. Contractor shall provide Semi-annual preventative maintenance service in accordance with prescribed factory procedures. Additional visits determined for each component run time, application, and location. Preventative maintenance includes minor adjustments, lubricants, and replacement of worn seals. Replacement parts or equipment are government supplied or purchased at a discount from the contractor. * Contractor must provide quote prior to installation of any Government furnished parts/equipment. * Contractor must provide quote prior to installation of any contractor supplied parts/equipment. * Return the equipment to full and proper operating condition and provide documentation of service performed. Parts and assemblies shall be repaired or replaced as necessary. An electrical safety inspection shall be performed at the time of PM and the results documented. After each service call is completed, details from the service report shall be provided to the COR to ensure closed-loop performance. Equipment maintained under this agreement includes: All tubing Seven (7) Stations numbered 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, 50 Four (4) Diverters numbered 11, 12, 13, 15 One (1) Blower numbered 3N *Any service or part replacement tasks not covered under the contract which will require additional funding must be approved, and a purchase order generated, prior to work commencing. OTHER SPECIFIC TASKS. Contractor shall fully maintain, provide upgrades, revisions, and warrants to the standard application software. 24/7 emergency service with a 6-hour response time billed at discounted rates. 24/7 toll free telephone technical support. COMPLIANCE. The Contractor shall be fully responsible for compliance with all Veterans Administration (VA), local, state, and Federal environmental/occupational safety laws, rules and regulations. The Contractor shall follow life and safety codes and take necessary actions to avoid conditions that may be hazardous to the health and safety of hospital personnel and patients. The Contractor is responsible for meeting all applicable OSHA and VA guidelines for safe working processes. ACCESSABILITY AND SECURITY. Contractor shall keep in mind and, to the extent applicable, follow practices that ensure the security and safety of JAH Veterans Hospital facilities, equipment and personnel. To this end, accessibility to all work areas will be provided by the COR. No keys will be issued to Contractor employees. CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES. Contractor personnel shall present a neat appearance and be easily recognized as contractor employees. Example: wearing of distinctive clothing such as uniform, badges, patches, etc. ESCORT AND JAMES A. HALEY SECURITY POLICE CHECK-IN. Contractor personnel shall check in and out with VA Police dispatch located in the front entrance of the Main Hospital. Access to work areas and performance monitoring will be provided by the COR. PARKING. It is the responsibility of contractor personnel to park only in designated parking areas. Parking information is available from the VA police and COR. The VA will not invalidate or provide reimbursement for parking violations of the contractor s personnel under any circumstances. SMOKING. Smoking is not permitted within or around VA Healthcare System facilities, except within designated areas. LANGUAGE. Contractor personnel are expected to use appropriate and courteous language. Obscene language is not permitted. NOISE AND DISRUPTION. The contractor is required to continuously consider the impact to the medical center in completing the required work. Any operation causing excessive noise or vibration shall be coordinated in advance with the COR. Also, movement of equipment, supplies, and waste through occupied areas, corridors, and elevators must be planned and scheduled with the COR to minimize disruption to hospital operations. CELLULAR PHONES. Cellular phones are acceptable inside the building, except for posted critical care areas. With Sensitive Data and Training VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS: a. Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security. b. A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order. c. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures. d. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness. e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE: a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on-site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements. c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract. d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract. e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed. f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. g. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.1, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship. h. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated. i. The contractor/subcontractor s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request. j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above-mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response. l. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COTR. SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION: a. The term security incident means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COTR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access. b. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant. c. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement. d. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH: a. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract. b. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a security incident as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination. SECURITY CONTROLS COMPLIANCE TESTING: On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-days notice, at the request of the government, the contractor must fully cooperate and assist in a government-sponsored security controls assessment at each location wherein VA information is processed or stored, or information systems are developed, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA, including those initiated by the Office of Inspector General. The government may conduct a security control assessment on shorter notice (to include unannounced assessments) as determined by VA in the event of a security incident or at any other time. TRAINING: a. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training and Privacy and HIPAA Training. (1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Rules of Behavior. b. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COTR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required. c. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete. The Certification and Accreditation (C&A) requirements do not apply, and a Security Accreditation Package is not required for this SOW. The information identified above is intended to be descriptive, not restrictive and to indicate the quality of the services that will be satisfactory. It is the responsibility of the interested source to demonstrate to the government that the interested parties can provide the services that fulfill the required specifications mentioned above. Responses to this RFI should include company name, address, point of contact, phone number, and point of contact e-mail, UEI Number, Cage Code, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 811310 (size standard of $12.5 Million). Please answer the following questions: (1) Please indicate the size status and representations of your business, such as but not limited to: Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), HUBZone, Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Large Business, etc.? (2) Is your company considered small under the NAICS code identified under this RFI? (3) Are you the manufacturer, distributor, or an equivalent solution to the items being referenced above? (4) If you are a large business, do you have any designated distributors? If so, please provide their company name, telephone, point of Contact and size status (if available). (5) If you re a small business and you are an authorized distributor/reseller for the items identified above or an equivalent solution, do you alter; assemble; modify; the items requested in any way? If you do, state how and what is altered; assembled; modified? (6) If you intend to subcontract any work on this contract, what portion of the total cost will be self-performed/will be performed by your organization? Please provide estimated detailed percentage breakdowns related to subcontracted work and completion of job. (7) Does your company have an FSS contract with GSA or the NAC or are you a contract holder with any other federal contract? If so, please provide the contract number. (8) If you are an FSS GSA/NAC contract holder or other federal contract holder, are the items/solution you are providing information for available on your schedule/contract? (9) General pricing of your products/solution is encouraged. Pricing will be used for the purpose of market research only. It will not be used to evaluate for any type of award. (10) Please submit your capabilities in regard to the salient characteristics detailed above and any information pertaining to establish capabilities for planning purposes? (11) Please review salient characteristics, statement of work (if applicable) and provide feedback or suggestions. If none, please reply as N/A. (12) Please provide your UEI number. *** Submissions addressing number (10) should show clear, compelling and convincing*** evidence that all equal to items" meet all the salient characteristics. This RFI will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received via e-mail to Walida.MooreSaintil@va.gov no later than, 15:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on May 5, 2025. This notice will help the VA in determining available potential sources only. Do not contact VA Medical Center staff regarding this requirement, as they are not authorized to discuss this matter related to this procurement action. All questions will be addressed by the Contracting Officer, Walida Moore-Saintil. All firms responding to this Request for Information are advised that their response is not a request for proposal, therefore will not be considered for a contract award. If a solicitation is issued, information will be posted on the FedBizOpps (FBO) web site for all qualified interested parties at a later date and interested parties must respond to the solicitation to be considered for award. This notice does not commit the government to contract for any services. The government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this Request for Information. Information will only be accepted in writing by e-mail to Contracting Officer at Walida.MooreSaintil@va.gov DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. End of Document