24-09013-000_Add_1_-_Q_A_Response.pdf

“Caring Today for a Safe and Healthy Tomorrow” Rev. (11/2018)

Addendum #1, IFB 24-09011-000 Temporary/Relief Healthcare Staffing Services

Procurement and Contract Services Section 1215 O Street, MS-1 Sacramento, California 95814 www.dsh.ca.gov

November 15, 2024

ADDENDUM #1

Invitation for Bid 24-09013-000

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) is issuing this Addendum to respond to potential Proposers’ questions, and to provide a revised Request for Proposals (deletions are in strikethrough and additions in bold italics). A clean IFB with all the changes accepted will also be provided.

1. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Question 1: I am reaching out to confirm if the IFB Number: 24-09013-000 for Temporary/Relief Healthcare Staffing Services is a follow up to the contract currently held by the following vendors:

• My Choice Health Services, Inc. 20-64026-001

• 3.11 Staffing Solutions, LLC - 20-64026-002

• Intuitive Health Services, Inc., APC - 21-09005-002

• Imperial Locum Services - 21-09005-001

• Intuitive Health Services - 21-09005-002

• Correctional Healthcare Associates 21-09005-003

Answer 1: The current contracts are held by Imperial Locum Services, Intuitive Health

Services, and Correctional Healthcare Services.

Question 2: Is this a new contract or renewal of an existing contract?

Answer 2: Renewal.

Question 3: if there is an existing contract, could you please share the names of the current vendors and their pricing?

Answer 3: Northern California Region

1. Imperial Locum Services 21-09005-001 $19,796.465.60

2. Intuitive Health Services, Inc. 21-09005-002 $21,908,029.44

3. Correctional Healthcare Associates 21-09005-003 $23,477,921.28

Southern California Region

1. Imperial Locum Services 21-09005-004 $29,696,198.40 http://www.dsh.ca.gov/

2. Intuitive Health Services, Inc. 21-09005-005 $32,862,044.16

3. Correctional Healthcare Associates 21-09005-006 $35,216,881.92

Question 4: In order to be considered responsive for this solicitation, is it mandatory to bid on all positions?

Answer 4: Yes.

Question 5: What is the estimated budget for this contract?

Answer 5: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 6: Is it mandatory to subcontract?

Answer 6: No.

Question 7: Could you please provide information on the daily duration of shifts for the necessary professions? For example, the number of hours per day?

Answer 7: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 8: I would like to know if a company that is a Disabled Veteran Enterprise (DVE) can be a subcontractor on multiple contracts awarded to a large business Prime Contractor on Department of State Hospitals in California?

Answer 8: Yes.

Question 9: How many resources are currently engaged in the current contract?

Answer 9: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 10: Can you please share the no. of positions served in previous years under this contract?

Answer 10: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 11: Can you please share the amount of business each vendor did under this contract in previous years?

Answer 11: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 12: Can you please clarify Minimum Qualification number 4. We are TJC certified staffing agency. Do we meet this minimum requirement?

Answer 12: See Minimum Qualification 4. - this is the requirement that needs to be met.

For the purposes of this bid, and, as required by the Medical Practice Act (Business and Professions Code, section 2000 et seq.), only bidders which are a) medical corporations, b) entities solely owned by physicians or individual physicians licensed to practice medicine in the State of California, and which physicians are in good standing with the Medical Board of California (and/or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable),

c) entities as defined in Business and Professions Code section 2401, d) a hospital owned and operated by a public entity (state or local), or e) otherwise in compliance with the Medical Practices Act may submit a bid.

Question 13: Is this a single award contract?

Answer 13: See section IV. Bid Evaluation and Award, section D. Intention to Award.

Question 14: If it is a multi-award contract, can you please confirm the total number of vendors to be awarded this contract?

Answer 14: See section IV. Bid Evaluation and Award, section D. Intention to Award.

Question 15: How will job requested be shared amount multiple awarded vendors?

Answer 15: See E Multiple Provider Disclaimer and Breaking Tie Bids: 1.:

1. This IFB may result in multiple agreements, and DSH reserves the right to award multiple agreements per DSH location, unless DSH receives fewer responsive and responsible bids, in order to meet the demands of patient care. DSH may award to multiple contractors by ranking contractors based on the lowest responsive and responsible bid as primary followed by the next lowest responsive and responsible bids, and so forth.

i. Note: Upon award, DSH shall contact awarded contractors in bid order when requesting services (“canvassing”). Failure of an awarded contractors to respond within 2 hours to a DSH request for service shall result in DSH requesting services from the next lowest awardee until DSH service needs are met. All awarded contractors will be used for back up services, in the event that the primary bidder is unavailable to provide the services requested.

Question 16: Do the staff need to be registered in CA or live in CA?

Answer 16: See II. Minimum Qualifications (MQ), section A. Proof of Legal Right To Do

Business.

Question 17: Do we need to provide staff in the list given or can we provide partial (example:

a dentist but not a pharmacist)?

Answer 17: You must be able to provide staff for all 35 requested classifications.

Question 18: What type of physicians/surgeons is the state looking for?

Answer 18: See Attachment 5 – Bid Rate Sheet.

Question 19: How is this bid different than the DGS bid that is out for the same services?

Answer 19: IFB 24-09013-000 is for the Department of State Hospitals (DSH). DSH does not have information at this time for the Department of General Services (DGS) bid.

Question 20: For the rate, can you confirm the state is dictating a MAXIMUM of 25% markup?

Answer 20: Confirmed.

Question 21: Once the final vendors are awarded how does the state plan on reaching out to the vendors for orders?

Answer 21: All contract negotiations will take place with awarded vendor(s).

Question 22: If a bidder partners with a SB AND a DVBE do they get a 10% (5%+5%) bid preference?

Answer 22: See V. Preference and Incentive Programs, section C. Calculation of Multiple

Preferences.

Question 23: In your example of Small Business Preference Example, for SB/DVBE if the bidder is NOT a small/DVBE business and they partner with a SB/SDVB and the bidder bids $100,000, then the state will give them a 5% pref amount so their bid from a scoring process would be $95,000 correct?

Answer 23: See V. Preference and Incentive Programs.

Question 24: In the rate section, why does the state provide the civil service hourly rate? It has no bearing over the vendor pay rate correct?

Answer 24: See IV. Bid Evaluation and Award, section D. Intention to Award.

Question 25: The pay rates for each classification is going to vary by years of experience.

Each person we put out there will have a different pay rate. So our Proposed Hourly Rate + Admin Fee is our set bill rate correct? The state will not be regulating the vendors pay rates, just the contracted bill rate. Please confirm.

Answer 25: Yes.

Question 26: Please use the below assumptions for the next questions.

Psych Tech Bidders Proposed Hourly Rate = $50 BiddersnProposed Hourly Admin= 25% Bidders Proposed Hourly Rate and Admin= $62.50 In the above example, if awarded the bill rate for all Psych techs will be $62.50?

Answer 26: Correct.

Question 27: When we provide a Proposed Hourly Rate, the actual pay rate to our worker is going to depend on the years of experience. Is the state going to be regulating the vendors pay rates? If so how is that going to be tracked?

Answer 27: No.

Question 28: How is the bid going to be scored in terms of points? Is there weight for the exp of the company vs price vs references?

Answer 28: See IV. Bid Evaluation and Award, section D. Intention to Award

Question 29: What are the differences between this bid and IFB Number: 24-09011-000

Temporary/Relief Healthcare Staffing Services which was due on 10/18?

Answer 29: See II. Minimum Qualifications (MQ).

Question 30: Page 5 Section II Minimum Qualifications number 4 item e says "otherwise in compliance with the medical practices act..." If a vendor is not solely owned by a physician and is not a medical company but has been providing the same services to government and private medical facilities including corrections in CA, with a long, proven track of success and has a team of medical directors (licensed physicians) on payroll that oversee its services in corrections and private hospitals, would that company be eligible to bid? The vendor is joint commission certified and is owned by a licensed Pharmacist.

Answer 30: See Attachment 3, Minimum Qualifications Response - Bidders must either be medical corporations, be individual physicians licensed to practice medicine in the State of California, be entities which are otherwise physician owned, be entities as defined in Business and Professions Code section 2401, be a hospital owned and operated by a public entity (state or local) or be otherwise in compliance with the Medical Practices Act.

Question 31: What are the prices currently provided by Imperial Locum Services, Intuitive

Healthcare Services, and Correctional Healthcare Associates for this service to

DSH?

Answer 31: To obtain this information, please submit a Public Records Act (PRA) request at https://www.dsh.ca.gov/Legal/Public_Records_Act.html.

Question 32: In the IFB document, it states that the contractor must obtain and maintain a performance bond of no less than the contract price. Could you please clarify the estimated contract price?

Answer 32: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 33: Are we required to provide equipment, materials, or tools along with the resources?

Answer 33: See I. Description of Services, section A. Description of Services/

Background, 5.

Question 34: Should live resumes be included with the response submission?

Answer 34: See Attachment 3 – Minimum Qualifications Response.

Question 35: Would it be acceptable to submit a sample Certificate of Insurance (COI) at the time of bidding?

Answer 35: Yes. See Page 27 through 29 for sample COI requirements.

Question 36: Do you require a Key personnel resume along with the proposal?

Answer 36: See Attachment 3 – Minimum Qualifications Response.

Question 37: Could you provide insight into the expected spending for this project?

Answer 37: DSH does not have this information at this time.

Question 38: How will job requests be shared among multiple awarded vendors?

Answer 38: See IV. Bid Evaluation and Award Section D. Intention to Award.

Question 39: Is there any local preference for this bid?

Answer 39: See V. Preference and Incentive Programs.

Question 40: Can any exceptions be made to point 4 under minimum qualifications? We are a staffing company, and we would like to confirm if we are eligible to bid for this

RFP.

https://www.dsh.ca.gov/Legal/Public_Records_Act.html

Answer 40: No. See II. Minimum Qualifications (MQ).

Question 41: Can we get a recording of the meeting today?

Answer 41: No, the Mandatory Bidder’s Conference was not recorded.

Question 42: Previous iterations of this bid have been canceled and re-issued. What has happened or changed that caused those bids to be cancelled?

Answer42: See III. Bid Requirements and Information, Section C. Submission of Bids where it states, "DSH reserves the right to reject all bids. DSH is not required to award an agreement."

Question 43: Previous iterations of this bid have required in the Minimum Qualifications that we provide medical licenses and evidence of interest and ability from all required classifications in addition to 2x CVs for each qualification. It appears on this new IFB this is required now only after award, is this correct?

Answer 43: Correct. See II. Minimum Qualifications (MQ) Section D. Curriculum Vitae and

Letters of Interest.

Question 44: Who are the incumbent providers/contractor and what are their bill rates for each classification?

Answer 44: See question 3 for answer.

Question 45: May a bidder submit one bid if bidding on both the Northern and Southern regions with the same rates? Or should they submit separate bids for each region?

Answer 45: Yes, see Attachment 5 - Bidder’s Rate Sheet. Bidder should check the box to clearly indicate that bid is for both regions.

Question 46: Is DSH willing to take the bid online through email?

Answer 46: No. See III. Bid Requirements and Information, section B. Submission of Bids.

Question 47: Can a Small Business submit a bid and be a subcontractor to another bid?

Answer 47: Yes.

Question 48: It is stated in this IFB that DSH intends to award to multiple companies. How many awards will be given, or will all qualified companies be awarded? How many awards will be given, or will all qualified companies be awarded?

Answer 48: See section IV. Bid Evaluation and Award, section D. Intention to Award.

Question 49: Is DSH willing to increase the rates of Optometrist and Audiologist as these disciplines are hard to find due to inflation? And these disciplines make more money when they do their own practice.

Answer 49: No, there will not be rate negotiations after award as this is a competitively bid contract

Question 50: Does the active medical license bidder have to be free from any medicolegal proceedings or any limitation from the medical license to practice?

Answer 50: No. Licenses will be verified upon award.

Question 51: Is an audited financial report required to prove that the company is financially stable as the state funds take 45-60 days to come?

Answer 51: No. Please see Exhibit B – Prompt Payment Act Clause.

Question 52: On page 5 of this IFB Minimum Qualifications, it is stated that Bidders must submit proof of their legal right to do business in the State of California. Number 4 states that as required by the Medical Practice Act (Business and Professions Code, section 2000 et seq.), only bidders which are medical corporations can submit a bid and not an LLC? Please confirm.

Answer 52: Confirmed. Bidders must either be medical corporations, be individual physicians licensed to practice medicine in the State of California, be entities which are otherwise physician owned, be entities as defined in Business and Professions Code section 2401, be a hospital owned and operated by a public entity (state or local) or be otherwise in compliance with the Medical Practices Act.

Question 53: On page 6 of this IFB number 5 states that if a bidder is using any name other than his or her own, either alone, in conjunction with a partnership or group, or as the name of a professional corporation, a Fictitious Name Permit (FNP) must be on file with the California Department of Consumer Affairs under the name of the bidder, as specified in the Medical Practice Act (Business and Professions Code, section 2000 et seq.) Please answer the following questions:

- Please confirm that the bidder must provide proof that the FNP is approved by the Medical Board.

- If the FNP is not provided, the bidder will not fulfill the minimum qualifications and will be disqualified for this bid. Please confirm.

- If a company provides an FNP but is not approved by the Medical Board, the bidder will not fulfill the minimum qualifications and will be disqualified for this bid. Please confirm.

Answer 53: Yes to each question asked.

END OF ADDENDUM #1

Answer 15: See E Multiple Provider Disclaimer and Breaking Tie Bids: 1.: