36C24423R0182 - VAPHS Ambulance Transportation Service.docx

Solicitation Number / RFP – 36C24423R0182 ALS / BLS Ambulance Transportation Services VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This Solicitation is being issued as Request for Proposal (RFP) 36C24423R0182. The government anticipates awarding one five-year firm-fixed price Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract resulting from this solicitation. The 5-year Ordering Period has the approximate start date of April 01, 2024, thru March 31, 2029.

This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-01 (11/14/2023) and can be found at FAR | Acquisition.GOV.

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 485991 with a small business size standard of $19 Million dollars annually (yearly). This solicitation is a 100% Small Business (SB) Set-Aside.

This solicitation requires registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to award, pursuant to applicable regulations and guidelines. Registration information is at www.sam.gov. Confirmation of SAM registration will be validated prior to awarding one IDIQ.

The Contractor shall provide services in accordance with the PWS, Attachment A, and QASP, Attachment B.

A complete description of the services to be acquired, and/or applicable Government need(s) as follows:

See Attachment A: Performance Work Statement.

Contracting Office Address:

Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Procurement Office East Network Contracting Office 4 (NCO 4) Coatesville VAMC 1400 Blackhorse Hill Road Coatesville, PA 19320

Proposals in response to this RFP are due on 09:00 AM EST, Friday, January 12, 2024. They shall be submitted in writing and sent via email to Cynthia Laemmerhirt at cynthia.laemmerhirt@va.gov. Please insert “Solicitation Number 36C24423R0182- VA Pittsburgh Ambulance Transportation Services” in the subject line of your email. All submissions shall be 5MB or less. If the email is more than 5MB, submit multiple emails labeling them 1 of XX, 2 of XX, etc. Late submissions shall be treated in accordance with the solicitation provision at FAR 52.212-1(f). Any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation shall be forwarded in writing via e-mail to the Contracting Specialist by 9:00 AM EST, Thursday, January 4, 2024. Questions will not be accepted after this date. Responses to vendor question(s) will be posted via an amendment on SAM.gov.

See Attachment C: Price/Cost Schedule. Fill out Attachment C and send with your proposal.

To facilitate the award process, all proposals must include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:

"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition."

OR

"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:"

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1:

Offerors shall submit Pricing, Technical Capability and Past Performance information as follows:

Submission Information/Instructions:

Offerors shall submit their proposal electronically in four volumes. Volume 1 Introductory, Volume 2 Price, Volume 3 Technical Capability, and Volume 4 Past Performance. Failure to follow these instructions may result in Offerors being determined as non-responsive and be removed from this competition.

A. Volume 1 Introductory Folder (No Page Limit):

The Introductory Folder shall include the information listed below and any other items for which a location has not otherwise been specified.

a. Cover Letter. Offerors shall submit a cover letter identifying their Company name, contact information, CAGE Code, UEI number of the prime and any teaming partner/subcontractor.

b. FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items.

Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision with their offer if the Offeror has not completed electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through ttps://www.sam.gov/SAM/.

c. All proposals shall be valid for at least 60 days from the proposal response date.

B. Volume 2 – Price Offerors shall complete the Price/Cost Schedule. See Attachment C.

Contracting is asking for one set of pricing for the entire 5 years. Please price accordingly. This RFP will result in the award of a five (5) year Firm Fixed Price IDIQ. Quotes shall include pricing that represents the vendors best offer and discounts. All pricing is final. Vendors should consider that requests for price adjustment, other than for wage increases due to Wage Determination, will be denied. Pricing structures should include the vendors adjustments for normal economic inflation for the entirety of the five (5) year ordering period.

C. Volume 3 - Technical Capability – (No Page Limit):

Offerors shall submit a Technical Capability which shall address the following at a minimum:

Technical Evaluations:

1) Describe how the offeror will ensure they meet various peak time periods to ensure requests for service response time meets PWS requirements. (Paragraph 4 and 5)

2) Describe any subcontracting plans to help meet VA’s requirements.

3) Provide a description of your communication system (i.e., VetRide, cell phone, computer, etc.), dispatch, and capability of real time communication for patient tracking purposes.

4) How you will manage scheduled and unscheduled Veteran patient pick-ups and transports. (Paragraph 5)

5) Describe your reporting process for patient complaints. (Paragraph 10.3)

6) Provide your quality control program to ensure prompt and quality service to include your action plan in the event of a vehicle breakdown, inclement weather or natural disaster, and other emergency situations.

7) Explain how you safeguard sensitive data / Veteran information.

(Paragraph 16)

8) Offerors shall provide the following documents with their offer:

a. Copy of EMS operating certification for states of PA.

b. Copy of vehicle and liability insurance certificate(s) or within 10 days after notification of pending award.

c. Copy of business license(s)

d. Inspection report for all vehicles.

e. Provide your plan to ensure Contractor vehicles are properly licensed and meet minimum requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement. (Paragraph 9)

f. Provide your plan to ensure drivers and EMTs are credentialed and licensed in accordance with requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement.

(Paragraph 8)

g) Must be willing to sign a Local Business Associate Agreement (BAA) (Attachment D) or provide a copy of a National BAA. (Paragraph 15) *Please insert your business name on all highlighted areas, unhighlight, and sign last page.

**Not required if you have a National BAA.

Under no circumstances shall pricing information be included in the Technical Capability.

D. Volume 4 - Past Performance – (No Page Limit)

Vendors shall provide up to three (3) references demonstrating experience providing the services required in the PWS, preferably of Government work, performed in the last three (3) years. Past performance information shall be recent (performance within the last three years) and relevant to this scope of work. All past performance references shall be completed by the evaluator. The evaluator shall submit Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment F) directly to the Contract Specialist at Cynthia.Laemmerhirt@va.gov prior to solicitation closing date. The apparent awardees past performance will be evaluated as part of the contractor responsibility determination to ensure the presence of an acceptable performance record in accordance with FAR 9.104-1.

Offeror must demonstrate experience providing ALS and BLS Ambulance Transports by identifying three (3) references for whom contracts of similar scope, size and complexity completed within the past three years. Include the following information:

Company name and address Name, telephone number and e-mail address of Company POC Dates of contract performance, aggregate award amount, and Contract number

Greater consideration will be given that involve transports conducted within fifty (50) miles of the VAPHS. The Government reserves the right to seek past performance information from any sources not included in your past performance references and available to the Government to include, but not limited to, CPARS or other databases; interviews with Program Managers, customers, and Contracting Officers.

Service Contract Act Wage Determination apply and can be found in Attachment E.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items (Nov 2021) applies to this acquisition:

Addendum to FAR 52.212-2: EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2021)

Evaluation will be conducted in accordance with FAR 12.6 in conjunction with FAR 15 procedures. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following evaluation factors and sub-factors set forth below.

Factor 1: Technical Capability Factor 2: Past Performance Factor 3: Price

Technical Capability and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. All elements within the technical capability factor are of equal importance.

Factor 1 - Technical Capability:

The Government will evaluate all offerors’ technical capability proposals to assess how offerors will meet or exceed the performance requirements of the solicitation as requested in the instructions to offerors.

Technical Capability will be evaluated as listed in the chart below.

Deficiency: A material failure of a proposal to meet the Governments requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

Strength: Any aspect of a proposal that, when judged against a stated evaluation criterion enhances the merit of the proposal or increases the probability of successful performance of the contract.

Weakness: A flaw in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

Factor 2 - Past Performance:

Past Performance will be evaluated as a measure of the Government’s confidence in the Offeror’s ability to successfully perform the requirements of the solicitation based on recent and relevant past performance efforts. Relevant past performance means the reference has a logical connection to the work described in the Performance Work Statement and recent past performance means the referenced work performed within the past three years of the proposal due date. The Government will begin its evaluation of an Offeror’s past performance by first determining the recency and relevancy of each past performance effort being evaluated.

The Government will consider recent past performance information identified by each Offeror as well as any additional recent past performance information obtained by the Government in determining an overall past performance confidence assessment rating for each Offeror.

While the Government will consider past performance information on relevant projects performed for federal, state, and local Governments, as well as in the commercial sector, past performance conducted within the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) or for other Federal departments will receive greater consideration when assigning a past performance confidence assessment rating than those for work performed for organizations other than the VA or Federal Government.

After all past performance work efforts have been assigned individual relevance ratings, the Government will assign a single Performance Confidence Assessment rating. The assigned rating will reflect the Government’s overall confidence in the Offeror’s ability to successfully perform this effort considering performance on previous efforts, information identified by each contractor, Past Performance Questionnaires, and/or other information obtained by the Government. The Performance Confidence Assessment rating is based upon all the information submitted/obtained and determined relevant by the Government, regardless of whether the information is for a prime or subcontractor. Past Performance which cannot be validated by a source other than the Offeror will not be considered in the Past Performance Confidence Assessment. Note: In the case of an Offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, that Offeror will receive an overall Performance Confidence Assessment rating of “Unknown Confidence (Neutral)” which will be considered neither favorably nor unfavorably. The Performance Confidence Assessment ratings are as follows:

Factor 3 – Price:

Prices will be evaluated for reasonableness. Each offeror’s price proposal will be evaluated for award purposes by the total price for the entire 5-years. Government reserves the right to award to an Offeror with other than the lowest price. Award will be made to the Offeror whose quote represents the best overall value to the government.

Failure to follow these instructions may result in vendors being determined as non-responsive and will be removed from competition.

(End of Addendum to FAR 52.212-2)

The following solicitation provisions apply to this acquisition:

1. FAR 52.252-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS-COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (SEP 2023)

2. FAR 52.204-7 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (OCT 2018)

3. FAR 52.204-16 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE REPORTING (AUG 2020)

4. FAR 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT (NOV 2021)

5. FAR 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (OCT 2018)

6. FAR 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

7. FAR 52.229-11 TAX ON CERTAIN FOREIGN PROCUREMENTS—NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION (JUN2020)

8. FAR 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

9. VAAR 852.233-71 ALTERNATE PROTEST PROCEDURE (OCT 2018)

10. VAAR 852.215-72 NOTICE OF INTENT TO RE-SOLICIT (OCT 2019)

11. VAAR 852.233-70 PROTEST CONTENT/ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (OCT 2018)

12. VAAR 852.239-75 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY NOTICE (FEB 2023)

13. FAR 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS-COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2023) Vendors shall include a completed copy of the provision with their proposal if the vendor has not completed electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov/SAM/.

The following contract clauses apply to this acquisition:

14. FAR 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

FAR | Acquisition.GOV VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) - Office of Acquisition and Logistics (OAL)

15. FAR 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS-COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2023)

16. FAR 52.212-5 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS-COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (MAR 2023) The following subparagraphs are applicable:

Subparagraph b 1/2/4/8/9/10/11/16(i)/24(i)/29/31/32(i)/34/33(i)/34(i)/35/36/37(i)/46/49(i)/53/60/64. Subparagraphs c 1/2/4/7/8.

17. FAR 52.203-16 PREVENTING PERSONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (JUN 2020)

18. FAR 52.203-17 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS (NOV 2023)

19. FAR 52.204-4 PRINTED OR COPIED DOUBLE-SIDED ON POSTCONSUMER FIBER CONTENT PAPER (MAY 2011)

20. FAR 52.204-13 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT MAINTENANCE (OCT 2018)

21. FAR 52.204-18 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE MAINTENANCE (AUG 2020)

22. FAR 52.204-21 BASIC SAFEGUARDING OF COVERED CONTRACTOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (NOV 2021)

23. 852.204-71 Information and Information Systems Security (FEB 2023)

24. FAR 52.232-19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year (APR 1984)

25. FAR 52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (MAR 2023)

26. VAAR 852.203-70 COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING (MAY 2018)

27. VAAR 852.228-71 INDEMNIFICATION AND INSURANCE (MAR 2018)

28. VAAR 852.232-72 ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS (NOV 2018)

29. VAAR 852.237-74 NONDISCRIMINATION IN SERVICE DELIVERY (OCT 2019)

30. VAAR 852.237-75 KEY PERSONNEL (OCT 2019)

31. VAAR 852.242-71 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTING OFFICER (OCT 2020)

Clauses included in this solicitation in full text:

32. MANDATORY WRITTEN DISCLOSURES

Mandatory written disclosures required by FAR clause 52.203-13 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General (OIG) must be made electronically through the VA OIG Hotline at http://www.va.gov/oig/contacts/hotline.asp and clicking on "FAR clause 52.203-13 Reporting." If you experience difficulty accessing the website, call the Hotline at 1-800-488-8244 for further instructions.

33. FAR 52.216-18 ORDERING (AUG 2020)

(a) Any supplies and services to be furnished under this contract shall be ordered by issuance of delivery orders or task orders by the individuals or activities designated in the Schedule. Such orders may be issued from March 01, 2024, through March 31, 2029.

(b) All delivery orders or task orders are subject to the terms and conditions of this contract. In the event of conflict between a delivery order or task order and this contract, the contract shall control.

(c) A delivery order or task order is considered "issued" when—

(1) If sent by mail (includes transmittal by U.S. mail or private delivery service), the Government deposits the order in the mail;

(2) If sent by fax, the Government transmits the order to the Contractor’s fax number; or

(3) If sent electronically, the Government either—

(i) Posts a copy of the delivery order or task order to a Government document access system, and notice is sent to the Contractor; or

(ii) Distributes the delivery order or task order via email to the Contractor’s email address.

(d) Orders may be issued by methods other than those enumerated in this clause only if authorized in the contract.

(End of Clause)

34. FAR 52.216-19 ORDER LIMITATIONS (OCT 1995)

(a) Minimum order. When the Government requires supplies or services covered by this contract in an amount of less than $5,000.00, the Government is not obligated to purchase, nor is the Contractor obligated to furnish, those supplies or services under the contract.

(b) Maximum order. The Contractor is not obligated to honor—

(1) Any order for a single item in excess of $1,500,000.00;

(2) Any order for a combination of items in excess of $2,500,000.00; or

(3) A series of orders from the same ordering office within 1 day that together call for quantities exceeding the limitation in paragraph (b)(1) or (2) of this section.

(c) If this is a requirements contract (i.e., includes the Requirements clause at subsection 52.216-21 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)), the Government is not required to order a part of any one requirement from the Contractor if that requirement exceeds the maximum-order limitations in paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the Contractor shall honor any order exceeding the maximum order limitations in paragraph (b), unless that order (or orders) is returned to the ordering office within 3 days after issuance, with written notice stating the Contractor's intent not to ship the item (or items) called for and the reasons. Upon receiving this notice, the Government may acquire the supplies or services from another source.

(End of Clause)

35. FAR 52.216-22 INDEFINITE QUANTITY (OCT 1995)

(a) This is an indefinite-quantity contract for the supplies or services specified, and effective for the period stated, in the Schedule. The quantities of supplies and services specified in the Schedule are estimates only and are not purchased by this contract.

(b) Delivery or performance shall be made only as authorized by orders issued in accordance with the Ordering clause. The Contractor shall furnish to the Government, when and if ordered, the supplies or services specified in the Schedule up to and including the quantity designated in the Schedule as the "maximum." The Government shall order at least the quantity of supplies or services designated in the Schedule as the "minimum."

(c) Except for any limitations on quantities in the Order Limitations clause or in the Schedule, there is no limit on the number of orders that may be issued. The Government may issue orders requiring delivery to multiple destinations or performance at multiple locations.

(d) Any order issued during the effective period of this contract and not completed within that period shall be completed by the Contractor within the time specified in the order. The contract shall govern the Contractor's and Government's rights and obligations with respect to that order to the same extent as if the order were completed during the contract's effective period; provided, that the Contractor shall not be required to make any deliveries under this contract after March 31, 2030.

(End of Clause)

36. VAAR 852.211-76 LIQUIDATED DAMAGES - REIMBURSEMENT FOR DATA BREACH COSTS (FEB 2023)

(a) Definition. As used in this clause, ‘‘contract’’ means any contract, agreement, order or other instrument and encompasses the definition set forth in FAR 2.101.

(b) Non-disclosure requirements. As a condition of performance under a contract, order, agreement, or other instrument that requires access to sensitive personal information as defined in VAAR 802.101, the following is expressly required—

(1) The Contractor, subcontractor, their employees or business associates shall not, directly or through an affiliate or employee of the Contractor, subcontractor, or business associate, disclose sensitive personal information to any other person unless the disclosure is lawful and is expressly permitted under the contract; and

(2) The Contractor, subcontractor, their employees or business associates shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) of any security incident that occurs involving sensitive personal information.

(c) Liquidated damages. If the Contractor or any of its agents fails to protect VA sensitive personal information or otherwise engages in conduct which results in a data breach, the Contractor shall, in place of actual damages, pay to the Government liquidated damages of $37.50 per affected individual in order to cover costs related to the notification, data breach analysis and credit monitoring. In the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer may forgo collection of liquidated damages.

(d) Purpose of liquidated damages. Based on the results from VA’s determination that there was a data breach caused by Contractor’s or any of its agents’ failure to protect or otherwise engaging in conduct to cause a data breach of VA sensitive personal information, and as directed by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of [] per affected individual to cover the cost of the following:

(1) Notification related costs.

(2) Credit monitoring reports.

(3) Data breach analysis and impact.

(4) Fraud alerts.

(5) Identity theft insurance.

(e) Relationship to termination clause, if applicable. If the Government terminates this contract, purchase order, or agreement, in whole or in part under clause 52.249–8, Default—Fixed-Price Supply and Service, or any other related FAR or VAAR clause included in the contract, in addition to the required liquidated damages for data breach related expenses specified in paragraph (c) above, the Contractor is liable for excess costs for those supplies and services for repurchase as may be required under the Termination clause.

(End of Clause)

37. VAAR 852.211-76 LIQUIDATED DAMAGES – REIMBURSEMENT FOR DATA BREACH COSTS (FEB 2023) ALTERNATE I (FEB 2023)

(a) Definition. As used in this clause, ‘‘contract’’ means any contract, agreement, order or other instrument and encompasses the definition set forth in FAR 2.101.

(b) Non-disclosure requirements. As a condition of performance under a contract, order, agreement, or other instrument that requires access to sensitive personal information as defined in VAAR 802.101, the following is expressly required—

(1) The Contractor, subcontractor, their employees or business associates shall not, directly or through an affiliate or employee of the Contractor, subcontractor, or business associate, disclose sensitive personal information to any other person unless the disclosure is lawful and is expressly permitted under the contract; and

(2) The Contractor, subcontractor, their employees or business associates shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) of any security incident that occurs involving sensitive personal information.

(c) Liquidated damages. If the Contractor or any of its agents fails to protect VA sensitive personal information or otherwise engages in conduct which results in a data breach, the Contractor shall, in place of actual damages, pay to the Government liquidated damages of $37.50 per affected individual in order to cover costs related to the notification, data breach analysis and credit monitoring. In the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer may forgo collection of liquidated damages.

(d) Purpose of liquidated damages. Based on the results from VA’s determination that there was a data breach caused by Contractor’s or any of its agents’ failure to protect or otherwise engaging in conduct to cause a data breach of VA sensitive personal information, and as directed by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of [] per affected individual to cover the cost of the following:

(1) Notification related costs.

(2) Credit monitoring reports.

(3) Data breach analysis and impact.

(4) Fraud alerts.

(5) Identity theft insurance.

(e) Relationship to termination clause, if applicable. If the Government terminates this contract in whole or in part under the Termination for cause paragraph, FAR 52.212–4(m), Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services, the Contractor is liable for damages accruing until the Government reasonably obtains delivery or performance of similar supplies or services. These damages are in addition to costs of repurchase as may be required under the Termination clause.

(End of Clause)

Attachments:

See Attached document: Attachment A – PWS See Attached document: Attachment B – QASP See Attached document: Attachment C – Price Schedule See Attached document: Attachment D – BAA See Attached document: Attachment E – Wage Determination – Allegheny_Armstron_Beaver_Butler_Fayette_Washington_Westmoreland See Attached document: Attachment F – Past Performance Questionnaire

End of Document