Study of Behavioral Motivation on Reduction of Risk Taking Behaviors
The Federal Emergency Management Agency intends to negotiate on a sole source basis (IAW FAR 13) with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) located at 4795 Meadow Wood Lane, Suite 100W, Chantilly, VA 20151.
The United States Fire Administration (USFA), in coordination with fire service organizations has maintained a continuous program of support of health and safety of fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) departments and responders throughout the country.
The proposed action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate under the authority of FAR 13, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
The purpose of the purchase order is to procure the services to continue the development of the National Safety Culture Change Initiative to provide additional outreach and educational resources focusing on key individual and organizational behaviors identified in the previous study with the IAFC on the Study of Behavioral Motivation on Reduction of Risk Taking Behaviors which identified major factors that adversely impact on firefighter health and safety and expanding these efforts to firefighter and EMS responder mental health.
This project would continue to and enhance the support and advocacy for the need of a culture change in the fire service – incorporating organizational leadership and personal responsibility focusing on the emergent and critical need of firefighter and emergency responder mental health.
The IAFC and their (IAFC) Safety, Health, and Survival (SHS) Section have a long history of performing successful complex fire service health and safety studies for both the USFA and the fire service in general, including the initial FY 2012 Study of Behavioral Motivation on Reduction of Risk Taking Behaviors as well as the follow on FY 2014 National Safety Culture Change Initiative Study of which this FY 2022 National Safety Culture Change Initiative focus on Firefighter and EMS Responder Mental Health will be based on makes them uniquely qualified.
Founded in 1873, the IAFC and their staff have tremendous experience and credibility among the U.S. fire service. They are the only national, if not international organization, with a nearly 150-year history of serving the needs of fire service leadership.
IAFC has proprietary oversight of their Safety, Health, and Survival (SHS) Section serves as a national level focal point of management expertise in firefighter health and safety. The IAFC SHS has the unique ability to reach across all aspects of the fire service by working with the IAFC Metro Chiefs to reach the large fire departments and the career fire service, the IAFC Volunteer and Combination Officers Section (VCOS) to reach smaller departments and the volunteer fire service, the IAFC Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Section, and others whose participation is imperative to the successful completion of this study. Because of this broad outreach, the IAFC SHS has the ability to implement the findings of this project and develop support and advocacy for the need of a culture change in the fire service through organizational leadership and personal responsibility. IAFC SHS members serve on many national-level consensus standards committees in numerous areas involving firefighter and EMS responder health and safety – including firefighter and EMS responder mental health. The SHS organizational and memberships experience and knowledge related to this topic will be utilized and incorporated into this project. Other organizations would not be able to develop the involvement and support of the IAFC SHS Section.
Additionally, the IAFC has established a dedicated section on the National Safety Culture Change Initiative for the Fire Service of the proprietary IAFC website that will greatly expand the outreach of its new findings, and is an integral part of this study. This IAFC website is well known and utilized among the fire and emergency services community to access information on fire service operational safety. The IAFC will not allow any other organization such unrestricted access to the website.
Additionally, the IAFC will provide will outreach of the results of this study at proprietary IAFC-sponsored national level fire service leadership conferences, including Fire Rescue International as well as other proprietary fire service resources administered by their organization. The IAFC would likely not support or endorse such outreach developed by others at their proprietary conference.
All of this organizational and staff history related to conducting complex fire service health and safety studies, especially those targeted for fire service leadership, will benefit this study.
The contractor must be able to meet core capabilities required for this requirement as follows:
Expertise in conducting complex fire service health and safety studies for local fire departments at the national level, especially those targeted for fire service leadership and change of the safety culture in the fire service for both the USFA and the fire service in general;
Promote and provide national level leadership education and training for local level fire departments;
Gather applicable information from and disseminate information to fire service leadership of fire departments from the United States Fire Administration (USFA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
Serve as the voice and advocate for fire service leadership in the national arena and provide tools, resources, and programs in health and safety for fire and EMS departments and responders – including mental health;
Conduct research, develop training, collect information and distribute that information which has an impact on health and safety for fire chiefs, firefighters, and EMS responders, including linkage to and utilization the resources of the IAFC’s Safety, Health, and Survival Section, as well as national level fire service leadership conferences including the IAFC’s Fire Rescue International.
Possess an existing mechanism to deliver outreach, information, and training targeted toward fire service leadership and the fire services, specifically utilizing the resources of the IAFC’s Safety, Health, and Survival Section, as well as national level fire service leadership conferences including the IAFC’s Fire Rescue International;
Experience with the development and delivery of national level materials targeted specifically for fire service leadership related to changing the culture of the fire service at all levels. This would include the National Safety Culture Change Initiative and the Study of Behavioral Motivation on Reduction of Risk Taking Behaviors.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) determined that the IAFC is uniquely qualified to perform this work. This purchase order will be awarded using simplified acquisition procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13.
Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications demonstrating their ability to provide these services via email to Donald Hoover no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on August 12, 2022. Email address for receipt of capabilities and qualifications is donald.hoover@fema.dhs.gov.
Capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. This Notice of Intent is NOT a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for competitive quotation/proposals.
WX02338Y2022T Federal Emergency Management Agency Preparedness Section
8/2/22, 3:37 PM B550--Veteran Facility Transformation and Healthcare Enhancement BPA (VA-23-00011330)
Page 6 of 6
THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted, or respond to any questions or comments that may be submitted in response to this Sources Sought. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government and does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Sources Sought.
The purpose of this Sources Sought is to determine the acquisition strategy regarding small business participation and vehicles and methods to acquire the services. Through this process, VA is requesting the capabilities and past performance of large and small business contractors interested in providing these services for VA. Interested small business contractors including Veteran-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned, 8(a)'s, or HUBZones are encouraged to respond.
The agency does not intend to award a contract but rather gather capabilities and market information pertinent for acquisition planning. The responses to this Sources Sought will be captured as market research and may contribute to the development of an acquisition strategy. Information provided may be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.
Requirement
Section 106 of the VA MISSION ACT of 2018 requires VA to perform market area assessments at least once every four years and prescribes the elements that need to be included in the assessments, to include:
Demand, disaggregated by geographic market areas determined by VA, including requests for VA services.
An inventory of VA s health care capacity across all medical facilities.
An assessment of the capacity provided by contracted private providers, including the number of providers, the geographic location of the providers, and the categories or types of health care services provided by the providers.
An assessment obtained from other Federal direct delivery systems of their capacity to provide health care to Veterans.
An assessment of the health care capacity of non-contracted providers where there is insufficient network supply.
An assessment of the health care capacity of academic affiliates and other VA collaborations as it relates to providing health care to veterans.
An assessment of the effects on VA health care capacity by the access and quality standards established under this bill.
The number of appointments for health care services, disaggregated by VA medical facilities and non-Department health care providers.
Section 106 required VA to submit the market area assessments to Congress in 2022 and use the market area assessments and quadrennial assessment review to determine the capacity of the health care provider networks established in section 101 of this bill, to inform VA s budget, to assess the appropriateness of the access and quality standards established under this bill, and to develop recommendations for changes to those standards as needed.
Section 106 also required VA to submit a strategic plan to Congress, no later than one year after the date of enactment and at least every four years thereafter and to specify:
Demand, disaggregated by geographic market areas determined by VA.
The health care capacity to be provided at each VA medical center.
The health care capacity to be provided through community care providers.
Section 106 directed VA to take a number of elements into consideration in the strategic plan, including Veterans satisfaction, the access and quality standards established under this bill, and conditions and needs of Veterans with service-connected disabilities. In preparing the strategic plan, it also directed VA to identify emerging issues, challenges, and opportunities; develop long-term and short-term recommendations to address them; conduct a comprehensive examination of VA programs and policies; and assess the remediation of medical services lines described in section 1706A.
Section 106 required VA to be responsible for overseeing the transformation and organizational change to achieve a high performing integrated health care network, developing the capital infrastructure planning and procurement processes required, and developing a multi-year budget process that is capable of forecasting future budget year requirements.
Project Description
VA has a clear need and an obligation to modernize VA facilities to provide Veterans the best possible health care outcomes and provide our VA workforce the safest and most efficient means and environment possible to deliver care. Veterans in the 21st century should not be forced to receive care in early 20th century buildings. The median age of VA s hospitals is nearly 60 years old. This is why the President requested nearly $20 billion in new VA infrastructure spending last year, and why he requested the largest ever investment in VA infrastructure in his fiscal year 2023 budget.
To identify and prioritize health care infrastructure investments that will improve Veteran access to quality VA health care, VA will execute a new collaborative approach for conducting market assessments to increase access and improve outcomes for all Veterans. The new field-driven and transparent approach to market assessments will reflect the valuable stakeholder feedback that has been received and the lessons learned. It will also include using new, better, and up-to-date data; deep collaboration with our networks and medical centers across the country; and early and robust engagement with stakeholders. Stakeholders include Veterans, employees, unions, VISN leaders, Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, and leaders in the community.
VA will create a strategy focused on building VA health system infrastructure to support Veterans with the right facilities, in the right places, to provide the right care in every part of the country.
Effective planning for Veteran care will be enhanced by contractor support and facilitation in several key areas:
1) Market Area Assessments: Conducting comprehensive market assessments that allow VA to determine how and where to best meet the needs of Veterans through VA-owned/leased infrastructure, innovative care delivery approaches (including virtual care), and partnerships with academic, DoD, other federal, and community providers. This will likely include:
a) Development of enterprise-wide strategic analysis to inform planning
b) Delivering evidence-based advanced data analytics, VA and commercial healthcare planning expertise, and training. Support may also include supporting engagement with potential partners to identify opportunities and assess their feasibility including emerging healthcare technology and delivery processes.
c) Additional domains of analysis including visioning, rural healthcare, education and research, health and wellness aspirations, health equity, population migration, pandemic and PACT Act implications, enrollee reliance, population density distribution, population health, telehealth, and cost accounting analyses.Â
2) Data Management: Data management solutions that drive effective health care planning and align with VA Data Governance requirements. These include tools to support planning:
Data Discovery & Findings-comprehensive market analysis data set considering demand, aggregated by geography, as well as internal and external health care capacity by market
Health Systems Planning Application-a VHA internal facility planning tool to enable local planners to Assess their local Veteran population, including eligible and enrolled Veterans, as well as trends impacting Veterans associated health care, Identifying projected imbalances in health care capacity, and visualizing market supply and demand
Cost Range Model-a VA tool which estimates criteria-based modernization requirements for every VAMC installation and includes a resource allocation element to project and distribute workload
Interactive Mapping Tools-Includes the VHA GIS Planning Portal, a geographic database of capacity, healthcare locations (internal and external) and analytical tools to enable effective distribution of capacity where it is most needed
This could also include support for maintaining the Authority to Operate (ATO) for cloud-based tools in VA s environment.
3) Implementation Planning: Helping VA convert high-level strategies into executable, acquisition-ready capital projects. As needed, this may include support for VA in executing strategic partnerships to facilitate expansion of Veteran access to care. It will also include a prototype facility master plan for a complex VAMC campus in dire need of modernization.
4) Strategic Prioritization: A process to update approaches for prioritization based on changes in Veteran need and VA/VHA strategic direction. The process would incorporate extensive input from VISN and VAMC leaders regarding the needs of local markets and would align with VA enterprise strategies and priorities, including clinical priorities.
5) Stakeholder Management and Strategic Communications: Facilitating a Stakeholder Engagement plan through VISN and local leadership to appropriately engage with a broad range of stakeholders.
6) Program Management and Executive Support: Program management oversight, meeting management support to relevant governance bodies, and support for the development of briefings for executive leadership. Â
7) Special Studies: Additional studies and analyses that will enable VA to appropriately plan for Veteran-centric care or efforts to implement any opportunities. Â
Timeline
To complete this, the VA is planning to solicit for an award that requires vendors with deep and broad healthcare system planning and consulting expertise that is able to maintain objectivity and enhance VA credibility with congressional and other external stakeholders. The period of performance could be for up to a maximum of four (4) years from the date of award, although deliverables will be completed in an expeditious manner, and several will be required within one (1) year.
Sources Sought Notice
This Sources Sought will be used for market research to give Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) the opportunity to engage with contractors to determine overall interest in the mission, experience with healthcare consulting services, capacity to successfully accomplish the work, and small business participation.
This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. It does not constitute a solicitation and is not to be considered as a commitment by the Government. All interested parties will be required to respond to the resultant solicitation separately from their response to this Sources Sought.
Instruction for responding to this Sources Sought Notice
Firms interested in submitting their capabilities statement for this project must include the following information:
(1) Company name, address, point of contact with phone number and e-mail address
(2) Business size determination and qualifying small business status
(3) The applicable Source Sought Number identified in the cover page of this notice.
Please limit responses to fifteen (15) pages. Any firm responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Respondents are requested to limit responses to the information, and in the format provided below.
The Contractor capability statement shall include, but not be limited to:
A - GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name and the year in which the company was established/founded (please list any previous names used).
Company ownership (public, private, joint venture).
What is your socio-economic designation, if applicable?
Identify any GSA schedules or other contract vehicles you hold that support this work as described in the background/project description.
(Small Businesses Only) The Government anticipates this contract effort will require an estimated 5 consulting teams as described above to support the project requirements within a limited timeframe. Explain how your firm can meet the requirements of FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting for an effort of this scale.
B EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITY INFORMATION
B1. Consulting Experience:
Provide at least three recent examples where you have built healthcare strategy and significantly influenced healthcare delivery systems for major commercial clients.
Provide similar examples supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs.
B2. Corporate Experience:
As VA undertakes work to modernize its infrastructure, it is critical that the support contractor, as prime contractor, has demonstrated recent experience within the last three years with both VA federal and the commercial sector executing similar work to that required by the Department including the following:
National federal healthcare market assessment
Commercial health care planning
National VA transformation effort
B3. Capability to Perform:
As VA undertakes work to modernize its infrastructure, is critical that the Department have access to a well-qualified prime contractor. Below are desired contractor experiences that will enable effective support for VA as it executes future planning:
Experience supporting health care planning for VA and private sector health care systems
Experience supporting large health care system transformations in the public and private sectors
Experience developing executive level communications products (e.g., briefings, reports) for senior leaders within VA
Experience with the VA infrastructure/capital planning cycle
Experience supporting internal and external stakeholder engagement / strategic communications plan development and execution for VA
Experience developing national planning strategies for clinical service lines
Experience supporting nationwide initiatives to solicit Veteran feedback
Please submit capability packages via email to: kevin.armillotti@va.gov and tiffany.rivers2@va.gov no later than October 26, 2022, by 3:00 pm EDT with the subject line title Veteran Facility Transformation and Healthcare Enhancement [Company Name]. CFM anticipates the solicitation will issued on or around November 2022. At this time, no solicitation exists, therefore, please do not request a solicitation package.
36C10F23Q0002 Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management
10/20/22, 12:02 PM NOAA Organizational Health and Culture Assessment services
The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to solicit, negotiate and award a sole source basis, a purchase order with McKinsey & Co. for Organizational Health and Culture Assessment Services for use at the NWS Office of Organizational Excellence in Silver Spring, MD.
The Government intends to utilize the authority under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency requirements, unless, as a result of this announcement, acceptable responses to this notice are received and a determination is made by the Government to issue a competitive solicitation. The Government intends to award a purchase order to McKinsey & Co., Inc. for Organizational Health and Culture Assessment Services for use at the NWS Office of Organizational Excellence in Silver Spring, MD.
A five year contract will be awarded as a result of this procurement (base plus four option years).
There are no other firms capable of providing this assessment service in a manner that will be usable and consistent with the data collected from previous assessments provided by McKinsey & Co.
Sole Source Justification:
The National Weather Service (NWS) has previously used the Organizational Health Index (OHI), a proprietary
assessment tool developed and owned by McKinsey & Company. The NWS has based the past 2 years of NWS culture
work on the results of this survey. The NWS has also developed an Organizational Health Action Plan tied to the
results of the OHI surveys and associated Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. In order to benchmark and make
accurate comparisons of new assessment results to previous assessment results, the NWS must conduct the same
survey from the same vendor as was used in 2015 and 2017. If the NWS is unable to use the same vendor, they will be
unable to compare survey assessment results to previous results and will be unable to determine appropriate
adjustments to the OHI for future years.
This special notice is not a request for competitive offers and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can provide this service may submit substantiating documentation in writing within five (5) business days of this notice. Responses can be sent via e-mail to anthony.ciolli@noaa.gov. Documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. If no documentation is received, award will be made directly to McKinsey & Co.
DOC, Eastern Region Acquisition Division requires that all contractors doing business with this office be registered
with the System for Award Management (SAM). No award can be made to a company not registered in SAM. For
additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. To register, all
contractors must have a Dun and Bradstreet number. A Dun and Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun and Bradstreet on-line at http://www.dnb.com/eupdate or by telephone at (844) 229- 9757.
NWWA1100-20-00111 Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
4/1/20, 6:06 PM