QUESTIONS FOR RFQ 36C24124Q0865 AMENDMENT 0001.pdf

QUESTIONS FOR RFQ # 36C24124Q0865 AMENDMENT 0001

1. Would you kindly confirm if this is an entirely new effort or is there an incumbent currently providing these services? If so, would you please provide the incumbent contract details? Yes, there is an incumbent. The incumbent is FEI Behavioral Health on contract 36C24119A0007.

2. What will be the contract value for this opportunity? This cannot be discussed during solicitation.

3. Would you please provide an approximate timeline for the RFP release? The RFQ was released on 8/20/2024 and will close on 9/11/2024 at 12:00 PM EST.

4. What is the total number of employees covered under this contract? As of

September 4, 2024: 17,362 VISN 1 Employees plus their families.

5. What is the employee count for each of the 9 Healthcare Systems or Network listed on pages 2 and 3 of the combined synopses?

VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1) Employee Population by Facility*

Facility Name & Station Code # of Employees as of September 4, 2024 VISN 1 Network (478) 465 VA Boston Healthcare (MA) (523) 4939 VA Connecticut Healthcare (CT) (689) 3373 VA Maine Healthcare (402) 1925 VA White River Junction, VT (405) 1269 VA Bedford Healthcare (MA) (518) 1470 VA Manchester Healthcare (NH) (608) 1059 VA Central Western Mass (CWM) (631) 1111 VA Providence Healthcare (RI) (650) 1751 Total 17362*

*A percentage of this total are remote Employees with duty stations throughout the

United States.

6. On Page 1 of the combined synopsis under the Supplies/Services table there is a statement that reads "*To include 12 hours of Critical Incident Stress Management and 16 hours of training and orientation sessions per year."? The 12 hours of Critical Incident Stress Management per facility per year would require on site presence. The 16 hours of training and orientation session per facility per year would be primarily virtual for New Employee Orientation sessions & Supervisor Trainings (or similar trainings) and to provide overview of services available to all employees through the EAP program.

7. Can you please clarify if the training and orientation sessions are intended to be virtual or on site? The 12 hours of Critical Incident Stress Management per facility per year would require on site presence. The 16 hours of training and orientation session per facility per year would be primarily virtual for NEO sessions & Supervisor Trainings and to provide overview of services available to all employees through the EAP program.

8. Can you please clarify if the 12 & 16 hours listed in that table are total to be shared across all facilities, or is this per healthcare system? The 12 hours of Critical Incident Stress Management per facility per year would require on site presence.

The 16 hours of training and orientation session per facility per year would be primarily virtual for NEO sessions & Supervisor Trainings and to provide overview of services available to all employees through the EAP program.

9. If per healthcare system, does that include the Network, which may largely include teleworkers? Each facility, including the Network have, a number of employees that work remotely throughout the United States.

10. If per healthcare system, can you please also summarize the total number of CISM, and training hours wanted across the entire VISN to ensure clarity and fair pricing from all interested vendors? The 12 hours of Critical Incident Stress Management per facility per year would require on site presence. The 16 hours of training and orientation session per facility per year.

11. On page 9, 1.125 Contractor reports states "The contractor shall provide statistical reports on a monthly and annual basis"? Can this requirement be changed to quarterly and annual reporting, as is the standard across the VA? Quarterly statistical reporting would be acceptable, with a yearly statical summary report as well.

12. We would like to know if this is a brand-new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number? Within VA New England Healthcare System there was a BPA contract established at three of the eight facilities: White River Junction, VT; Manchester, NH; and Togus, Maine.

13. Could you please confirm whether the RFP released under Solicitation Number

36C24124Q0865 and Solicitation Number 36C24124Q0848 refer to the same opportunity? Yes, these are the same requirement.

14. How many employees are represented in this proposal? As of September 4, 2024:

17,362 VISN 1 Employees plus their families.

15. 2. I saw MSW and Psychologist listed under qualifications; are LPC and LCMHC credentials excluded from this solicitation. LPC and LCMHC are acceptable for providing EAP services.

16. The RFQ documentation states a due date of 9/6/24 and a base period to begin

10/1/24. What are the operational expectations for the base period? The RFQ will close on 9/11/2024 at 12:00 PM EST and the base period start date will be 10/1/2024 and be a one-year duration.

17. Section 1.10 Place of Performance states “The majority of the work to be performed under this contract will be performed at the contractor’s facility.” The document further specifies: “One counseling facility must be provided and located within a 30-minute commute or 15 miles of each primary location of each health care system.”

Please define “counseling facility.” Which categories of physical locations are appropriate? For example, would an EAP clinician’s offices within an existing network for referrals be adequate to meet the definition? The counselling facility needs to be located by the employee’s duty station within VISN1. The majority of these duty stations are within the facility locations, but we have less than 10 percent of our employees who are remote and have duty stations throughout the United States. They would require services near their home location if that were their official duty station location.

18. 1.118 Referrals states that employees may engage in self-referral. Recognizing

Section 2.207’s language stating a strong preference for in-person services, would all referrals be required to be made in-person? How would family members and spouses refer to services? Please confirm if/how telephonic intake and/or assessment might be incorporated. Family members and spouses would learn of the benefit from their family member and call a number for the initial intake.

Contact numbers and emails for EAP Vendor will be published and distributed to employees.

19. Can the total number of employees across all five, identified locations be specified?

Can location addresses be specified for geo-access analysis?

VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1) Employee Population by Facility*

Facility Name & Station Code # of Employees as of September 4, 2024 VISN 1 Network (478) 465 VA Boston Healthcare (MA) (523) 4939 VA Connecticut Healthcare (CT) (689) 3373 VA Maine Healthcare (402) 1925 VA White River Junction, VT (405) 1269 VA Bedford Healthcare (MA) (518) 1470 VA Manchester Healthcare (NH) (608) 1059 VA Central Western Mass (CWM) (631) 1111

VA Providence Healthcare (RI) (650) 1751 Total 17362*

*A percentage of this total are remote employees with duty stations throughout the United States.

20. Upon review in our proposal development and response process we are unable to access the link to review the rates in the VA-EAP Wage Determination document (document provided is attached) as the site-https beta.sam.gov/ is no longer active.

Can you confirm that the rates listed in the attached documents are the most updated and correct rates. Additionally, the attachments for this solicitation did not include an Instructions document for Proposal Response to include formatting, page count, font size, etc., (Did the VA release an Instructions document and if yes, where might it be located). Please confirm the intended Contract Award Date. In light of the above and the further clarification request; will the VA consider extending the Response Date to Friday, September 13, 2024? The Wage Determination will be the most current one found on SAM.gov. For instructions on RFQ submission, please refer to clauses 52.212-1 and 52.212-2, which can be found on FAR | Acquisition.GOV. The solicitation will be approximately awarded between 9/16/2024-9/27/2024. The RFQ close date will be extended to 9/11/2024 at 12:00

PM EST.

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