Inactive Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The purpose of this notice is to conduct ma... THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The purpose of this notice is to conduct market research and obtain information from qualified businesses with special interest in seeking: VA certified Service Disabled Veteran owned Small Business (SDVOSB), VA certified Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Small Business (SB) concerns. No solicitation is being issued at this time. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government. The Richard L Roudebush VA Medical Center (RLRVAMC) has a requirement for Domiciliary Catering Services. The appropriate NAICS Code 722310, Food Services, Size Standard $41.5 Million Responses: Please submit your response in accordance with the following instructions: Responses shall be no more than 10 pages in length. Responses are due by10/04/2021 at 15:00 PM EST. Responses shall be submitted via email. Emails cannot exceed 10mb Subject line of the Email shall include this Sources Sought Notice Number Firm Name RLRVAMC Domiciliary Catering Services. If your response contains proprietary information you will place Proprietary Information in front of the Sources Sought Notice Number. No marketing materials are allowed as part of this Sources Sought Notice. The Government will not review any other information or attachments included in your submission that is not listed herein or exceeds the10-page limitation. Contractors Federal Supply Schedule Contract that carries the desired services If you do not have a Federal Supply Schedule contract, you shall state open market Provide the Schedule Provide expiration date of your Contract Provide your GSA/FSS/SAC Contract Number Provide the SIN for food services If any of the items are not on your GSA/FSS contract you will mark which items are open market. Contractor Point of Contact to include: Name Title Phone Email Company Information to include: Name Address DUNs Number Tax ID Number Business Size Provide information as to what food services contracts are provided by your company. Provide how your company invoices for services in the commercial marketplace. Business Size/Type: Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), 8(a), Hub Zone Small Business, Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Small Business, or Large Business. All prospective Contractors are reminded that in accordance with FAR 4.11 they shall be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database and shall complete annual Representations and Certifications in SAM prior to any offer. SAM is located at http://www.sam.gov and consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. There is no cost to use SAM. FOR SDVOSB/VOSB ONLY: Please note that if responding as an SDVOSB or VOSB, your company must be registered and verified in the VA s Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database, which is available at: https://access.va.gov/accessva/?cspSelectFor=vemsPlease include a copy of your VetBiz certification with your response. Contractor shall include 3 past contracts for the same or similar services. Contractor shall include at minimum: Name of Company Company POC Company POC phone Company POC email Dollar amount of contract Contract number Period of Performance Description of services provided Contractor shall include any relevant comments about the attachments, if applicable. Contractor shall provide a public price list/contract price list for the services described herein. Contractor shall provide a detailed response to include your firm s ability, capability, and responsibility to deliver the services presented in this Sources Sought Notice. Contractor shall provide if they plan to sub-contract all or part of the work, and to what firm to include the subs duns number and business size. Determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Preliminary - Specifications/Work Statement Food Service for the VA Domiciliary Indianapolis, Indiana 1.0. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Contractor shall provide all labor, equipment, food, materials, supplies and supervision (except, see Attachment D.6- Kitchen Equipment at Domiciliary) to prepare a minimum of three (3) meals per day, plus one evening snack for residents at the Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility, located at 9045 E. 59th Street, Building 402, Indianapolis, IN 46216. Each meal service shall be for an estimated minimum of 40 residents, and typically no more than an estimated maximum of 50 residents. The Contractor shall also provide personnel to facilitate the preparation of and approval of all rotating menus, serving, and cleanup of general serving/eating area in accordance with all applicable Federal, State, and local health and sanitation regulations. The Contractor shall have at least one (1) employee on shift at all times that has received a certification from the manager ServSafe Program established and maintained by the National Restaurant Association. Information can be found here: http://www.servsafe.com/home. All employees should have the food handler ServSafe certification as well per national VA standard. 1.1. Contractor shall provide meals cafeteria style where the Contractor provides the servings. Trays, tables, and chairs shall be provided by the VA. 1.2. The VA will periodically request that a certain number of buffet meals for a particular day/meal be substituted with bagged meals that are equivalent to the buffet style meal (i.e., meat sandwich with lettuce/tomatoes, beverage, and fruit) and act to comply with the regular meal specification. In a typical month, the Contractor shall prepare bagged meals as needed. The VA will provide the Contractor with one (1) day written notice when bagged meals shall be required for the following day. The Contractor shall provide at least two (2) entrée choices with at least three (3) sides available for each meal. The Contractor shall also provide a salad bar for lunch and dinner, and a yogurt/hot cereal bar for breakfast. 1.3. The VA supplied juice dispenser shall be available 24 hours per day to patients. This shall dispense a variety of one (1) regular 100% fruit juice and one (1) sugar free beverage. Flavors of juice and sugar free beverages are to be changed routinely and no flavor shall be repeated in two (2) consecutive weeks. These should be labeled to properly identify the regular vs. sugar free versions. The equipment shall be stocked and maintained by the Contractor. 1.4. Contractor shall provide the following beverages, which shall be available 24 hours per day: regular and decaffeinated coffee, regular and sugar-free hot chocolate, regular and sugar-free ice tea, hot tea, and herbal tea. Contractor shall also provide the following condiments, which shall be available 24 hours per day: condiments for beverages to include creamer, sugar, a variety of sugar free sweeteners, honey, and condiments for meals; to include salt, herbal salt substitutes (non-potassium based), pepper, hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, low fat mayonnaise or other low fat sandwich dressing spread, fat free salad dressing, salad dressing, margarine, and lemon juice. Contractor shall furnish manufacturer-sealed, single-serving condiments, when available. 1.5. Contractor shall provide a variety of cold cereals with at least two (2) one being sweetened and one being unsweetened cold cereals. At all meals, Contractor shall provide fresh fruit (other than floor stock), low calorie yogurt (100 calories or less per serving), peanut butter, whole wheat bread (whole wheat flour as the first ingredient with each slice containing at least 2 grams of fiber), white bread, jelly and sugar free jelly. Yogurt, peanut butter and jelly shall be provided in single-serving containers. 1.6. Contractor shall provide the following items which shall be available 24 hours per day: a variety of oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, or other fresh fruit (referred to as floor stock) as seasonably available, whole wheat bread (whole wheat flour as the first ingredient with each slice containing at least 2 grams of fiber), white bread, peanut butter, jelly, sugar free jelly, and crackers. All floor stock fruit shall be washed prior to serving. There shall be at least three (3) different fresh fruits available at all times as floor stock or grab and go areas. 1.7. The Contractor shall provide a variety of regular and diet eight (8) ounce soft drinks to be available at meal times. 1.8. Contractor shall provide services on Federal holidays. Federal holidays are established by Federal Law and listed below. Also, the Contractor shall provide services on any other day declared by the President of the United States to be a National Holiday. New Year s Day Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. President s Day Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day Columbus Day Juneteenth 1.9 Contractor shall provide meals during the times specified below. Deviation from this schedule shall only be with the approval of the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). All times listed are local times. Breakfast Weekdays (Monday through Friday) 7am 8am Weekends (Saturday & Sunday) 8am 9am Lunch Weekdays (Monday through Friday) 11:30am 12:30pm Weekends (Saturday & Sunday) 12:00pm 1:00pm Dinner Every day (Monday through Sunday) 5:00pm 6:00pm 2.0. MENUS: 2.1. Contractor shall prepare and submit to the COR two (2), 6-week menus (one [1] spring/summer, one [1] fall/winter) for the regular diet (see the Attachment D.5- Healthy Diet Guidelines) and modified diets that are approved and signed by a VA Registered Dietitian. The spring/summer menus shall run or cycle from April to September, the fall/winter menus from October to March. The menus shall include these different diets: Cardiac diet/ Regular (low cholesterol 2 gm sodium), 60-75g Carbohydrate diet, and Renal diet (2 gm sodium 2gm potassium 60 gm protein). The VA shall give the Contractor one (1) day written notice of the type and numbers of modified (not regular) diets needed for the following day. Contractor shall provide the COR at time of menu submission with recipes and intended products to be used for menus to ensure compliance to the above stated nutritional guidelines. 2.2. The menus shall be evaluated by the Contractor and submitted to COR on at least an annual basis 15 days before the new option year. The COR takes the documents to the registered dietitian for review and will submit changes to the COR 15 days after receipt so that they may be given to the Contractor. Contractor should show the changed menus to the COR within 7 days so the COR can give to registered dietitian on site. The menus shall be signed and dated by the VA Registered Dietitian to show that the menus have been evaluated on an annual basis. The VA Registered Dietitian shall attend the quarterly meeting noted in the Quality Standards , section 6.4, below to address menu concerns. Menu changes ordered by the VA shall be implemented within 30 calendar days of the quarterly meeting. 2.3. Menus shall be in a format that shall be easy to read for residents. Menus shall be carefully planned to provide essential nutrients, reasonable variety, and include seasonal variations. Furthermore, food served by the Contractor shall be appetizing, well balanced, palatable and non-repetitive. The Contractor shall provide to the COR a nutritional analysis of each day s menu for the regular/Cardiac Diet (low g cholesterol, 2g sodium in order to ensure that the diet, as planned, meets nutritional adequacy and is consistent with the dietary guidelines. The Contractor shall post the menu and nutrition analysis for both the regular diet and 60-75g Carbohydrate on a daily basis at the dining room entrance. 2.4. See Attachment D.5 VHA DIRECTIVE 2010-007, Healthy Diet Guidelines for instructions on meal composition. The Contractor shall follow these guidelines in developing their menus. 2.5. Menu changes/substitutions shall be reported to the COR and the VA registered dietitian as well as changed on menu posted for veterans within 48 hours of knowing the change. A written report of these substitutions shall be submitted at each quarterly meeting in order to allow the VA to monitor the nutritional adequacy of meals served by the Contractor. 2.6. Special meals shall be provided for all Federal holidays except Columbus Day. Holiday meals will be observed at the dinner meal while breakfast and lunch meals follow the cycle menu. Holiday meals shall be written and submitted to the COR at least four (4)weeks in advance of the holiday. The COR will then submit to the dietitian. The holiday menus can be more liberal than regular diet guidelines as approved by the dietitian. The special meals require a starter (soup or salad), 2 entrée options, vegetable, starch, bread and dessert. 2.7. Contractor is expected to provide services regardless of weather conditions/power outages. An emergency five (5) day menu shall be submitted to the COR within five (5) business days of contract award. All items for emergency menu shall be kept in stock at all times and sufficiently rotated to ensure no expired products are served. COR shall be informed via email within 24 hours when the emergency menu is activated. The email shall include the reasoning for emergency menu activation and the meal(s) impacted. If the emergency menu shall be used for three (3) meals or greater, the Contractor shall call COR or designee. 3.0. SPECIAL DIETS: 3.1. Special diets shall be in accordance with the diet prescribed by VA healthcare providers. This shall include between meal snacks or nutritional supplements as needed, to optimize a patient s nutritional needs. Special diets with unique requirements due to religious preference and health reasons shall be prepared as prescribed by VA healthcare providers in cooperation with a VA dietitian. The Contractor shall provide special diet meals, when requested by the VA, at no additional charge to the Government. 3.2. The VA shall provide a VHA Heart Healthy diet model to help with recipe selections. Any other reference needed will be provided by the VA Dietitian/ COR. 4.0. FOOD SERVICE OPERATION: The Contractor shall be responsible for set up, serving and clean-up for all meals. The Contractor shall provide overall orientation for residents or contract staff that shall assist with serving, clean-up and/or dishwashing for all meals. The Contractor shall be ultimately responsible for ensuring that high standards of sanitation, cleanliness and safety are maintained during meal service operation. 5.0. SANITATION/SAFETY: 5.1. Contractor shall maintain a clean and sanitary environment and adhere to safe kitchen practices, including all relevant OSHA standards and guidelines, to prevent injuries and accidents. The Contractor shall ensure that all residents and/or staff involved in serving, clean-up and/or dishwashing follow correct procedures to ensure proper sanitation and safety. 5.2. All cleaning and sanitation chemicals, all paper goods, dinnerware, reusable utensils, and glass accessories for a complete table service, and all linens such as aprons, towels, dish cloths shall be provided by the Contractor. 5.3. Contractor personnel shall be free of any contagious, infectious or communicable disease while on the premises, and the Contractor shall educate said personnel on sanitation, infection control and kitchen safety. The Contractor shall provide documentation to the COR evidencing that the aforementioned education was provided to new Contractor personnel prior to them beginning at the facility under this contract. This documentation shall be submitted within five (5) days of contract award for personnel providing services on the first day of the period of performance. For personnel hired after performance has begun, the Contractor shall provide this documentation within five (5) days of the personnel beginning to provide services. Annually the contractor will submit to the COR documentation of annual review training on these topics. 5.4. Contractor shall ensure that ready to eat foods are prepared with no bare-hand contact, except when foods are being washed. 5.5. Contractor shall provide copies of policies and procedures for sanitation, safety, and employee training. These shall be turned over to the COR within 15 days of the award of this contract. Any changes in policies and procedures by the contractor shall be provided to the COR within 7 days of the change as well as documentation of staff being trained on the new policy and procedure. 5.6 VA holds the right to perform unannounced audits at any time. Contractor shall develop an action plan for any items out of compliance and submit audit report to COR within 2 weeks of the sanitation audit showing that action items have been completed (See Attachment D.9- Food Safety and Sanitation Audit). 5.7. Contractor shall record temperatures for items listed below and submit to the COR by the 15th of each month for the previous month: a. Dish machine temperatures, or chemical equivalence, shall be monitored and recorded following the three (3) meals. b. All refrigerator temperatures shall be monitored and recorded three times (3) per day prior to meal times. c. All food temperatures shall be monitored and recorded during the cooking process as well as prior to meal service. 6.0. QUALITY STANDARDS: 6.1. The foods, supplies, materials, equipment and services provided under this contract shall be in compliance with all Federal, State and Municipal health regulations and standards. Contractor shall provide a representative to be available, as needed, to answer questions and explain meal preparation during planned inspections. This representative shall demonstrate a familiarity with applicable Joint Commission standards, for the service provided, as well as be ServSafe Manager Certified. 6.2. Contractor shall provide a copy of the quality control plan including any appropriate forms. This shall be turned over to the COR within 30 days of the award of this contract. 6.3. The COR shall conduct quarterly audits using Attachment D.9- Food Safety and Sanitation Audit, to determine whether or not the Contractor is adhering to contract requirements. The VA may perform these audits more frequently, if needed, to ensure contract compliance. 6.4. The COR shall conduct quarterly satisfaction surveys, using Attachment D.2 Nutrition & Food Satisfaction Survey, to assess resident satisfaction with the Contractor s food service. After receipt of the Customer Satisfaction Surveys, the COR shall schedule a mandatory quarterly meeting with the Contractor and the VA Registered Dietitian. The COR may elect to hold these meeting more frequently depending on the quality of the Contractor s performance, and other factors. 6.5. All meals shall be served on china with reusable utensils. Contractor shall provide all necessary dinnerware (e.g., plates, cups, bowls) and cutlery (e.g., spoons, forks, knives) necessary for the Contractor to serve the meals and for the resident s to eat the meals. Plastic and paper goods shall only be utilized in emergency situations with COR or designee approval. 6.6. Sufficient quantities of food shall be prepared for all meals to prevent running out of food. 7.0. PROFESSIONALISM: 7.1. Contractor shall provide professional services, while maintaining decorum between the Contractor, residents, and staff. Normal interactions between individuals are both accepted and expected matters of courtesy; however, the escalation of relationships beyond what is customary and acceptable between employees and residents is prohibited. It is therefore mandated that the following be strictly adhered to. The Contractor shall assure that its personnel: 7.1.1. Display courtesy, professionalism and respect towards residents, staff and visitors while on premises. 7.1.2. Refrain from fraternizing with residents still in the program (or after they leave) if still employed by the Contractor or otherwise providing services under this contract. 7.1.3. Avoid private conversations, individual meeting on or off-grounds, giving rides in personal vehicles, talking on the telephone for personal reasons, or individually accepting or giving gifts. 7.1.4. Do not engage in drug or alcohol use on the property or any conversations related to alcohol or drug use. The VA will be provided with Contractor s policy and procedures for impaired or sick employees within 7 days of contract award so that COR and CO know what to do if this occurs. 7.1.5. Refrain from any behavior that could be considered sexual harassment. 7.2. These standards of professional behavior are not negotiable. The Contractor shall share culpability if, at any time, the Contractor s personnel do not comply with the requirements. In the event of noncompliance, it shall be the Contracting Officer s (CO s) and/or COR s prerogative to determine appropriate action. Such actions can include written admonishment in the contract file, and if repeated offenses are committed without corrective action by the Contractor, contract termination. Resident care is a priority, and personnel, both VA and contract employees, are held to high standards of conduct when interacting with residents. Any personnel used for this contract shall be instructed and confirmation of their understanding of, and their ability and willingness to comply with these standards, shall be documented. 8.0. THE VA SHALL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING: 8.1. A kitchen facility and the major appliances listed in Attachment D.6- Kitchen Equipment at Domiciliary. The Contractor shall have primary use of the kitchen for storage of food, condiments and serving supplies, but the Government requires access, with one (1) day advance notice, for staff and residents to prepare food for special occasion/events, (i.e., birthdays, holidays, special guests). 9.0. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: 9.1. The Contractor shall provide a test tray a minimum of three (3) times a month for evaluation purposes by the COR, VA dietitian or designee at no additional cost to the Government for purposes of evaluating the food in accordance with Attachment D.3 Patient Tray Assessment. 9.2. The VA dietitian, COR, or designee may taste any item, at any time, if there is a complaint or as part of a quality check. 10.0. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL: 10.1. All Contractor and subcontractor personnel working on the Government facility shall display at all times a VA issued identification badge. The Contractor shall coordinate with the COR immediately after contract award to obtain identification badges for all such workers. All contractor employees shall not be considered Government employees for any purpose under this contract. The C&A requirements do not apply, and that a Security Accreditation Package is not required. 10.2. The parties agree that the Contractor, its employees, agents and subcontractors shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose. The Contractor shall be responsible for protecting its personnel furnishing services under this contract. To carry out this responsibility, the Contractor shall provide the following for its personnel: a. Workers compensation; b. Professional liability insurance; c. Income tax withholding; d. Social security payments. 10.3. The Contractor shall ensure employees performing services under this contract, who shall use vehicles in performance of said contract, have a current and valid government-issued vehicle operator s license. 10.4. To ensure that the individuals providing services under the contract have not engaged in fraud or abuse in accordance with Sections 1128 and 1128A of the Social Security Act regarding federal health care programs, the Contractor is required to check the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS/OIG), List of Excluded Individuals/Entities on the OIG Website (http://www.hhs.gov/oig) for each person providing services under this contract. During the performance of this contract, the Contractor is prohibited from using any individual or business listed on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities. 10.5 Contract employees with access to VA Information Systems or Patient Health Information shall undergo a background investigation before such access is granted. Contractor shall ensure employees undergoing background investigations provide all documentation completed as requested by the CO and COR within a timely manner. Information regarding background investigations can be found in Section B, IT Security Language. 13.0. VEHICLES: The vehicles used in the performance of this contract shall be licensed and meet the minimum requirements as mandated by the state/county/city in which performance occurs. 14.0. UNIFORMS: The Contractor is responsible for providing the uniforms for its employees and ensuring that employees report to work in clean uniforms. 15.0. DAMAGES: In the event the Contractor has not shown up, or does not have sufficient personnel, 30 minutes prior to a given mealtime, the COR or COR appointed designee shall activate the contingency plan. Commercial meals for domiciliary residents shall be purchased by the contractor. Sufficient personnel is defined as a minimum of one ServSafe Manager Certified cook or supervisor. The contractor shall report any emergency incident in the kitchen (i.e. fire or personnel injury) to the COR within 4hrs via phone call and a detailed email report within 24hrs so that COR can report this to upper nutrition and foodservices management and the CO. Any equipment that is not working properly shall be reported to the COR and building maintenance, within 2 hours of discovering the equipment issue, either by phone or email. Once equipment has been repaired, please notify COR again so they are aware issue has been resolved. 16.0. INVOICES: Contractor shall provide COR with a report of actual meals served and total costs on the 15th of each month for the previous month.