Inactive

Page 3 of 3 This Sources Sought notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government at this time. Th... Page 3 of 3 This Sources Sought notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government at this time. This notice is intended strictly for market research. The purpose of this Sources Sought notice is to determine interest and capability of companies that can perform the following: The Tomah VAMC (located in Tomah, WI) would like to procure a ATP Service Agreement at the Tomah VAMC. Please respond if you can provide the products with the following general specifications: 4. Scope: The contractor shall provide support physically and remotely by providing system, technical, and software support, which includes preventative maintenance. In the event an upgrade is required, the contractor is responsible for supplies, install, and removal of outdated equipment. The support shall be provided 24-hour/365-day service. 5. Specific Tasks. The Contractor is required to wear a badge while on-station at the Tomah VAMC along with checking in and out with the COR. Services Contractor is to provide technical support, software support (including updates), PM (needs to be scheduled by the start of the contract), parts ordered and installed, and providing quality, professional communications of item(s) to troubleshoot. The Contractor is authorized to utilize VPN with required approvals from the VA Office of Information Technology to provide telecommunications and/or internet connectivity between vendor and the VA; it is required contractor s equipment is compatible with VA software and hardware, including critical patches and antivirus updates. When an issue arises, the Contractor is responsible to provide the COR time to address concerns with Biomed, OIT, or other Tomah staff involved. The equipment is required to be fully functional at all times. Contractor is responsible to have an active National Business Associate Agreement (BAA). 5.2 Task 2: Contractor must be mindful of Inpatient Pharmacy operating hours, which includes the Holidays and weekends. The Inpatient Pharmacy operates Monday to Friday from 0800 to 2100 hours. During these hours, the unit needs to be fully functioning. If repairs are needed, the Contractor will communicate to the COR and/or inpatient staff to address concerns when operations are not impacted. If its urgent, the Contractor is responsible to dispatch or provide telecommunications the resolution to the problem, which includes ordering parts, install, and removal of parts repaired. 6. Performance Monitoring: The Government is required to monitor contractor performance and certify the work that is being done at our facility, which is done accordance with the contract agreement. This monitoring is completed by the COR with compliance from the contract. The COR will do random inspections of the equipment to ensure functioning as well as to have a third-party inspection completed during those inspections. The contract will require the company to provide dates when annual maintenance is being conducted, in order to schedule with the Pharmacy staff. It is critical to ensure the equipment is operational at all times and it s important for communication to be upheld between the vendor, COR, CO, staff, and anyone involved, which will establish how well the contractor is performing and identify areas to improve. This will implement any support needed to ensure quality performance for the contract is met. The contract will report to the COR when services are done physically before and after to ensure services are performed to standards and to its agreement. 7. Security Requirements: The contractor and all those involved in supporting the contract either physically and/or remote contact are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same information. The level and process of such investigations are in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. Each contract is required to sign in when performing work physically and sign out when work is being concluded. The contractor must wear a company badge while conducting services as well as appropriate clothing and shoes. Those technical or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for designated personnel are requested access to the extent necessary to perform functions specified in the contract, agreement, or task order. If a modification needs to be required, the contractor and COR will communicate to the CO for a remedy. 8. Other Pertinent Information or Special Considerations. a. The contractor is required to be respectful towards Tomah VAMC staff, patients, and visitors at all times. When there is a conflict, the COR will communicate to the CO. b. Identification of Potential Conflicts of Interest (COI): Any situation that may influence which contractor should be awarded the contract. An organizational COI is a situation where because of other relationships or activities a person (company) is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the Government or cannot objectively perform contract work or has an unfair competitive advantage. FAR 9.502 states that an organization COI may result when factors create an actual or potential conflict of interest on an instant contract, or when the nature of the work to be performed on the instant contract creates an actual or potential COI on a future acquisition. An organizational COI exists when the nature of the work to be performed may, without some restriction on future activities, (1) result in an unfair competitive advantage to the contractor or (2) impair the contractor s objectivity in performing the contract work. In services contracts, it is the latter which may most often occur because of a contractor s access to proprietary information, the evaluation and analysis of products which it may produce, and/or its role as an advocate in contract performance or other situations. The primary burden is on the contractor to identify any organizational COI; however, the Government has the responsibility to identify and evaluate such conflicts. The Contracting Officer is charged with avoiding, neutralizing or mitigating such potential conflicts. It is the customer s responsibility to determine that no organizational COI exists. This is because the customer is more familiar with its requirements and the history of the requirements than the Contracting Officer could ever be. Therefore, the customer must decide that no COIs exist, or identify any potential COI that may exist prior to the execution of this contract. d. Packaging, Packing and Shipping Instructions: Contractor shall provide supplies for mailing materials and/or sending labels to return products. e. Inspection and Acceptance Criteria: The COR and the contractor are responsible for certifying that the work done under the contract is performed to time and standard. When services are completed, a report must be sent to the COR. 9. Risk Control The risk for this unit to not to be fully functioning could potentially be medication errors, which impacts Veteran s safety. This would create burnout, stress, selections of wrong medications, and medication errors from the nursing neighborhoods when administering. Ultimately, a unit must be active and running correctly for Inpatient Pharmacy to use on a daily basis. 10. Place of Performance: Tomah VAMC, Inpatient Pharmacy, 500 East Veterans Street, Tomah, WI 54660. Bldg. 406, Room 1660. 11. Period of Performance: September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. Base plus four option years. This is not a Request for Proposal or an announcement of a solicitation and no solicitation currently exists. Your responses will be used solely for market research purposes of the Government. The Government will not pay for any materials provided in response to this notice and submissions will not be returned to the sender. Responses due are to be submitted by e-mail to Brandon Bennett at Brandon.Bennett@va.gov. The information requested must be received no later than 11:00am on 05/25/2020.