36C25019R0093-A00010000.docx

36C25019R0093 A00010 – Q&A

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

A00010 03-18-2020

NONE

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 10 8888 Keystone Crossing Suite 1100 Indianapolis IN 46240

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 10 8888 Keystone Crossing Suite 1100 Indianapolis IN 46240 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C25019R0093 12-06-2019

X

1 (one) The purpose of this amendment is to answer contractor questions. Please see the attached (beginning on page 2) for the list of the questions and thier respective answers. This amendment answers questions that were received from March 05, 2020 through March 06, 2020.

Any additional questions pertaining to these answers shall be recieved no later than 15:00 ET on March 23, 2020.

This amendment is not being extended because amendment A00008 has provided the extension to March 31, 2020 at 15:00 ET.

Lisa Bailey Contracting Officer

Questions Received from Vendors 03.05.20 – 03.06.20

1. 4.9 Space Requirements/Amendments 3 and 6: The Government requires three toilet rooms in the reception area, one male, one female, and one unisex.

a. Would the Government accept smaller dimensions of 65- to 75 square feet which would accommodate a single, private stall in each of the three toilet rooms? Amendment A00008 includes the updated PACT table dated 02.28.20. The space required for the toilet rooms must meet those square footage areas.

b. If not, what alternate square footage would the Government accept for these spaces? See above answer.

2. With reference to 52.209-5 and 52.209-7 the fill in boxes in these sections are blocked by [N/A]. These are listed as required submissions for the Price factor. Can you confirm these pages are mandatory? That is a typo, to clarify, you can mark over it with an X for whichever is applicable to your company.

3. In Amendment 6, question 5f asks, “For “Storage Area, Logistics PACT 1”, the quantity is listed as 2 and the unit area is listed 125. Please confirm that the net area for these rooms should be 250 square feet.” The answer provided is “Verified with Logistics that one (1) room is sufficient, net area 125sq ft. An amendment to update this is to follow.” However, the updated table in Amendment 8 still requires the quantity of “Storage Area, Logistics PACT 1” to be two (2). Please confirm correct number of storage areas required for “Storage Area, Logistics PACT 1”. It has been confirmed that Logistics only needs 1 storage closet @ 125ft.

4. For the “Toilet, Male” and “Toilet, Female” which are required to be 205 square feet per Amendment 8, is it the VA’s preference for these restrooms to have multiple stalls? If so, is there a specific number of stalls that is preferred? The VA has no preferences on number of stalls in each restroom, they just need meet all applicable codes.

5. The answers to question 5g and 5h in Amendment 6 clarified that the contractor phone system cannot be co-located with VA equipment and would need to be in a room separate from the “Network/Data Room” required by section 4.11.2 of the Solicitation. However, the space requirements in Amendment 8 only list one “communications room”. Please confirm that one (1) room for VA communications/IT equipment is required and one (1) room for contractor communications/IT equipment is required. If this is correct, can the VA provide an updated section 4.9.1 to reflect this? Since the VA communications cannot be shared with the contractor, one room is required for VA and one room is required for contractor.

6. The answer to question 4a in Amendment 6 indicates that the Women’s Health Exam rooms can also count as PACT exam rooms. However, the space requirements in Amendment 8 include eight (8) PACT exam rooms and two (2) Women’s Health exam rooms. Please confirm that six (6) PACT exam rooms and two (2) Women’s Health exam rooms are acceptable. If this is correct, can the VA provide an updated section 4.9.1 to reflect this? Yes. As stated previously, if two exam rooms are equipped for Women’s Health (restroom and pap smear table) they can be included in the (8) PACT rooms. Also, the 2 rooms used for Women’s Health will be used for all patients when not in use for women.

7. Please clarify the answer to question 60 in Amendment 3. The answer provided is “Swing doors are adequate”. Does this mean that swing doors are adequate for both the provider side and the patient side? Does the VA have a preference for sliding doors on patient side? The VA does not have any preferences on sliding doors or swinging doors.

8. The answer to question 30 in Amendment 3 indicates, “The VA will provide the following phones for VA use: mental health, social services, telehealth, and pharmacy services, clinic manager, and provider offices.”

a. What are the networking requirements for the VA-provided phones? Is the contractor responsible for any of these networking requirements for the VA-provided phones, and if so what exactly is the contractor’s responsibility? There is no contractor responsibility for the VA phones.

b. We wish to confirm that the VA-equipment applicable to these phones will be placed in the “Network/Data Room” required by section 4.11.2 of the Solicitation. Yes, all VA network equipment will be stored in the VA required network/communication room.

9. We have identified an ambiguity with respect to the requirements for the position of Phlebotomist as presented in paragraph 2.5.2 of the Solicitation and the referenced document therein. We respectfully request resolution of this ambiguity for all offerors.

Paragraph 2.5.2 states:

“2.5.2. PHLEBOTOMIST/LABORATORY TECHNICIAN: 2 FTE Phlebotomy/Lab Tech Qualifications: Shall be certified in general medical technology by the CLIA. Shall meet medical technologist requirements of the state of Indiana specified in the VA Handbook 5005/72 Part II Appendix G24 Medical Technologist Qualification Standard.

https://www.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=1006&FType=2

Position Responsibilities: The Contractor shall be responsible for the proper collection, collection supplies, and other preservation of specimens. The Contractor is responsible for entering orders for laboratory tests into VA EHR. Information concerning the laboratory tests is available in VA EHR under the Tools Menu”

The information provided in paragraph 2.5.2 in combination with the referenced and linked VA Handbook Appendix G24 contains an ambiguity. The specification of the applicable position type is for "PHLEBOTOMIST/LABORATORY TECHNICIAN". However, the included "Qualifications" subparagraph of 2.5.2 and linked VA Handbook Appendix G24 are for a "Medical Laboratory Technologist". The subject of the ambiguity is that a “Medical Technologist” is a very different position as compared to a “Phlebotomist” or a “Medical Laboratory Technician”.

For example, the responsibilities of a "Phlebotomist" (and/or of a "Medical Laboratory Technician") are clearly distinct from the responsibilities of the much more technologically involved responsibilities of a "Medical Technologist". Per paragraph 2.5.2 under its "Position Responsibilities" subparagraph this position under the solicitation is responsible for “the proper collection, collection supplies, and other preservation of specimens.” The preceding described Position Responsibilities for the required position do reflect the responsibilities and capabilities of the position of Phlebotomist.

By contrast, the responsibilities of a Medical Technologist are highly different to those identified above as applicable to the current position. VA Handbook Appendix G24 (which it appears to us may have been referenced in error to solicitation para 2.5.2) does lay out the description and responsibilities of the Medical Technologist position in the VA. In describing of applicable duties/experience of a Medical Technologist position the Appendix G24 description involves repeated reference to "years of post-certification clinical laboratory experience (e.g. blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, clinical miscroscopy, etc.)...This experience must include performing moderate and/or high complexity testing in blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, and clinical microscopy (or categorical experience which matches categorical certification) in a clinical laboratory.

Additionally, with respect to required education and other background items, Medical Technologists must per VA Handbook 5005/72 Part II Appendix G24 have a Bachelor’s degree, clinical experience, and a certification. These education and background items are highly different than the education and background items typically required in the case of a Phlebotomist position.

Our assumption at this point is that the Appendix G24 Medical Technologist reference and link was included in error in para 2.5.2 which otherwise intended to reference the solicitation's requirement for a CBOC-based Phlebotomist position, and that reference to Medical Technologist (who are generally responsible for analysis and testing of body fluids, including using advanced instrumentation such as microscopes and cell counters) was not actually intended by the Government.

We note however that clear resolution of the current ambiguity is necessary so that all offerors are creating offers to the government based on an accurate and consistent understanding of the requirements for this position. We note in this regard that any potential differing understanding in this matter by one versus another offeror has the possibility if unresolved of a material difference in offer amount to the Government. This is because Medical Technologists who meet the qualifications of Appendix G24 will require much higher salaries than would be expected for Phlebotomists that are otherwise called for under the item identification and Position Description subsections of para 2.5.2.

In illustration of the level of materiality the current ambiguity does carry, we did wish to bring to the Governments attention that the Salary.com 75th percentile for Medical Technologists in Goshen, IN is $35.50 per hour. For comparison purposes, the Wage Determination base rate for12280 – Phlebotomist is $16.96 per hour.

Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Government please clarify if the position required under paragraph 2.5.2 is for the position of Phlebotomist or for the position of Medical Technologist. If it is for Medical Technologist, please clarify the position responsibilities. If it is for a Phlebotomist, please clarify the qualification requirements.

The COR has confirmed with the lab department that the position of a Phlebotomist meets the VA requirements.

The phlebotomist is responsible for the following duties:

Blood draws Specimen prep/scanning to send to lab Daily/monthly QA CAP surveys Stocking supplies Cleaning daily/monthly Checking for outdates Inventory, ordering, schedule prep for next day Make reminder calls to patients