36C25526Q0120 AESR RFQ.pdf

PAGE 1 OF 1. REQUISITION NO.

2. CONTRACT NO. 3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE DATE 4. ORDER NO. 5. SOLICITATION NUMBER 6. SOLICITATION ISSUE DATE

a. NAME b. TELEPHONE NO. (No Collect Calls) 8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL

TIME

9. ISSUED BY CODE 10. THIS ACQUISITION IS UNRESTRICTED OR SET ASIDE: % FOR:

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

EDWOSB

8(A)

NAICS:

SIZE STANDARD:

11. DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

SEE SCHEDULE

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

13a. THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

RFQ IFB RFP

15. DELIVER TO CODE 16. ADMINISTERED BY CODE

17a. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR CODE FACILITY CODE 18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE

TELEPHONE NO. UEI: EFT:

PHONE: FAX:

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER

18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW IS CHECKED

SEE ADDENDUM

19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

ITEM NO. SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA 26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only)

27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA ARE ARE NOT ATTACHED.

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA ARE ARE NOT ATTACHED

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN _______________ 29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REF. ___________________________________ OFFER COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND DATED ________________________________. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION DELIVER ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY (BLOCK 5), INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE ADDITIONAL SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED SET FORTH HEREIN IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR 31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER)

30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (TYPE OR PRINT) 30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (TYPE OR PRINT) 31c. DATE SIGNED

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION (REV. NOV 2021)

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

7. FOR SOLICITATION

INFORMATION CALL:

STANDARD FORM 1449

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

36C25526Q0120 01-08-2026

Kobulnicky, Erika/Erika.Kobulnicky@va.gov 913-946-1991 01-23-2026

10:00 AM CST

36C255 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office (NCO) 15 3450 S 4th Street Trafficway

Leavenworth KS 66048

X

334516

1,000 Employees

N/A

X

Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 15 Heartland Network Pathology & Laboratory Services

36C255

Network Contracting Office (NCO) 15

36C255

Financial Services Center http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp

Austin TX

877-353-9791 512-460-5429

See CONTINUATION Page

Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 15 Heartland Medical Centers

1. This is a solicitation to establish a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Cost-Per-Test(CPT) for Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Instruments. The instruments will be on a lease agreement with the reagents being purchased.

2. This solicitation is unrestricted.

3. See Statement of Work, Schedule, Delivery for additional information.

4. All questions are due no later than January 14, 2026, at 10:00 AM CST to Erika Kobulnicky, Erika.Kobulnicky@va.gov.

5. The Government may perform a comparative evaluation of quotations comparing offers to each other to determine which contractor provides the best value. Evaluation will consider price, technical capability, past performance and compliance with applicable VA requirements. Award will be made to the vendor whose quotation is determined to be the most advantageous to the Government.

See CONTINUATION Page

X X

X One(1)

Buchanan, Lisa A.

Contracting Officer

36C25526Q0120

Table of Contents

SECTION A

A.1 SF 1449 SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

B.2 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

B.3 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

ITEM INFORMATION

B.4 DELIVERY SCHEDULE

B.5 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

B.6 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

B.7 PRICING DATA

B.8 OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE BPA

B.9 GENERAL SUPPLY ORDERS

B.10 AUTHORIZED LIMITS

B.11 OBLIGATION OF FUNDS

B.12 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

B.13 AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUALS

B.14 ORDER FORMAT

B.15 MANAGEMENT CONTROL

B.16 AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES

B.17 FEDERAL HOLIDAYS

B.18 INVOICES

B.19 PRECEDENCE

SECTION C - CONTRACT CLAUSES

C.1 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2023)

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

C.3 52.216-18 ORDERING (AUG 2020)

C.4 52.216-19 ORDER LIMITATIONS (OCT 1995)

C.5 52.240-93 BASIC SAFEGAURDING OF COVERED CONTRACTOR

INFORMATION SYSTEMS (DEVIATION) (NOV 2025)

C.6 52.252-6 AUTHORIZED DEVIATIONS IN CLAUSES (NOV 2020)

C.7 VAAR 852.242-71 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTING OFFICER (OCT 2020) ... 38

SECTION D - CONTRACT DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS, OR ATTACHMENTS

SECTION E - SOLICITATION PROVISIONS

E.1 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES (SEP 2023)

E.2 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB

1998)

E.3 52.212-2 EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL

SERVICES (NOV 2021)

E.4 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (OCT 2025) (DEVIATION

FEB 2025)

E.5 52.219-1 SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM REPRESENTATIONS (FEB 2024)

E.6 52.225-2 BUY AMERICAN CERTIFICATE (OCT 2022)

E.7 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

E.8 52.240-90 SECURITY PROHIBITIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REPRESENTATIONS

AND CERTIFICATIONS (NOV 2025) (DEVIATION)

E.9 52.252-5 AUTHORIZED DEVIATIONS IN PROVISIONS (NOV 2020)

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

1. Contract Administration: All contract administration matters will be handled by the following individuals:

a. CONTRACTOR:

b. GOVERNMENT:

Contracting Officer 36C255 Buchanan, Lisa A/ Lisa.Buchanan1@va.gov

Contract Specialist 36C255 Kobulnicky, Erika/ Erika.Kobulnicky@va.gov

Department of Veterans Affairs

Network Contracting Office (NCO) 15

3450 S 4th Street Trafficway

Leavenworth KS 66048

2. CONTRACTOR REMITTANCE ADDRESS: All payments by the Government to the contractor will be made in accordance with:

[X] 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—System For Award

Management, or

[] 52.232-36, Payment by Third Party

3. INVOICES: Invoices shall be submitted in arrears:

a. Quarterly []

b. Semi-Annually []

c. Other [x] monthly upon acceptance of items and in arrears

4. GOVERNMENT INVOICE ADDRESS: All Invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Financial Services Center http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp mailto:A/%20Lisa.Buchanan1@va.gov mailto:Erika.Kobulnicky@va.gov http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp

B.2 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

VISN 15- HEARTLAND NETWORK

Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Device

Scope of Procurement:

It is the intent of VISN 15 Pathology & Laboratory Services to establish a Cost per Test agreement for Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Instrumentation.

• New equipment shall be acquired for each of the clinical laboratories located at the VISN facilities listed in Exhibit A.

• Facilities within VISN 15 may be added or deleted by supplemental agreement of the Government and the Contractor. As requirements change, facilities within VISN 15 (Exhibit A) may be added or deleted. Pricing to add new sites and/or equipment would be based on the costs spread out over the life of the remaining contract.

• Additional tests/reagents/instrumentation may be added to the BPA as new technology becomes available on the market and added to the base FSS contract.

• VISN 15 intends to establish the base year of the agreement for the period of 05/01/2026 through 04/30/2027.

• This will be a single award, firm-fixed price with 5 ordering periods.

• The instrument shall have random access capability (if discrete testing is required) and be able to simultaneously perform the complete testing as described below meet the performance characteristics for accuracy and precision as defined by the 1988 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute

(CLSI).

• A total equipment footprint that when installed in the laboratory shall not impact on the functionality/operations of that laboratory. Equipment must maintain or, preferably, reduce the number of workstations or overall labor required to accomplish the required testing by each laboratory.

• If Contractor offers a family of analyzers, the technical evaluation panel will determine if instrumentation proposed meets needs of using facility.

• The Contractor is required to provide a continuously stocked inventory of reagents, standards, controls, supplies, disposables and any other materials required to properly perform tests on the equipment such that equipment operations are not interrupted.

These items shall be of the highest quality, sensitivity, specificity and tested to assure precision and accuracy.

• Expiration dates must be clearly marked on reagent, standard, and control containers.

• Unexpected changes in methodology/technology shall be at the expense of the

Contractor.

• Special handling for emergency orders of supplies: In the event that the supplies are found to be defective and unsuitable for use with the Contractor’s equipment, or the Contractor has failed to comply with the requirements for routine supply delivery, the Contractor is required to deliver the supplies within 24 hours of receipt of a verbal order for emergency delivery. If either circumstance has occurred, the Contractor shall deliver to the Government site in the most expeditious manner possible without additional cost to the Government, the necessary consumables in sufficient quantity as required to allow operation of the Contractor’s equipment for one week (under normal Government test load volume). If additional requests for emergency supply delivery are required by the Government, they shall be honored by the Contractor until the arrival at the laboratory of the monthly standing order/routine supplies delivery.

• Estimated volumes of reagents can be found in Exhibit A.

• Validation of new equipment must complete 30 days before expiration of current contract

(April 30, 2026).

Definitions:

• Cost per Patient Reportable Result (CPRR)- as defined in the Federal Supply Schedule FSC Group 66, Part III, Cost-Per-Test Clinical Laboratory Analyzers - Contractors are required to provide a price for a reportable patient result. The per patient reportable result price shall include costs covering: (1) 5-year equipment use, (2) all reagents, standards, quality controls, supplies, consumable/disposable items, parts, accessories and any other items required for the proper operation of the Contractor’s equipment and necessary for the generation of a patient reportable result. This per patient reportable result price shall also encompass all costs associated with dilution, repeat and confirmatory testing required to produce a single patient reportable result. It shall also include the material to perform as well as all other costs associated with quality control, calibration and correlation study testing that is prescribed by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). (3) all necessary maintenance to keep the equipment in good operating condition (This element includes both preventive maintenance and emergency repairs) and (4) training for Government personnel. 852.211-70

• Contractors shall provide delivery, installation and removal of equipment at no additional charge.

• Business Associate Agreement (BAA)- A business associate is an entity, including an individual, company, or organization that, on behalf of VHA, performs or assists in the performance of functions or activities involving the use or disclosure of PHI, or that provides certain services involving the disclosure of protected health information (PHI).

VHA is a covered entity under the HIPAA Privacy Rule (Privacy Rule). HIPAA regulations require VHA to execute HIPAA-compliant BAAs with certain entities that receive, uses, or discloses VHA PHI to perform some activity for VHA. These BAAs obligate VHA business associates to provide the same protections and safeguards to PHI that is required of VHA under the Privacy Rule.

General Requirements:

• Primary analyzer(s) – Base equipment offered that shall fully support the scope of operations (minimal requirements). Depending upon the technical functionality and the capabilities of the individual manufacturer’s instrumentation, one analyzer or multiple analyzers may be required to meet the productivity specifications defined herein. In those instances, the additional analyzer(s) shall, likewise, be considered primary instrumentation and shall meet all the technical specifications of this solicitation. Those additional analyzers(s) offered meeting the definition of a primary analyzer may serve as a back-up analyzer (see definition below) and shall replace the requirement for offering that category of equipment.

• Back-up Analyzer does NOT apply; equipment required in support of operations for the VA laboratories in the event the primary analyzer(s) becomes non-operational/non-functional. This category of equipment (loaners) shall only be operated during periods of time when the primary instrumentation is not available for use. As such, the requirements for consumable supplies, i.e. reagents, quality control material, calibrators, etc., shall be minimal and corollary to the successful operation of the primary instrumentation. Additional primary analyzers required for the performance of daily workload are not considered back-ups for the purposes of consumables, reagents, etc.

Operational/Technical Features:

The instrumentation offered shall have the following:

• Testing Instrumentation - The testing instrumentation must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and shall have the following:

• The capability of performing analysis of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

• The capability and throughput to meet the volume and service demands as defined in

Exhibit A.

• QC data management system and includes Levy-Jennings graphs. Analyzer must have the ability to capture & store QC data.

• Capability to detect and alert operator of out-of-range quality control results via flagged results on QC printout and visual alerts on display monitor.

• Ability to participate in peer data management system for quality control results.

• On board reagent inventory management must have:

• A system that provides reagent data to include but not limited to lot number and expiration date of reagents and quality control.

• Barcoding of reagents.

• On board reagent stability sufficient to accommodate both high and low volume use.

• Primary tube sampling from evacuated whole blood EDTA collection tubes from various manufacturers.

• The ability to continuously load patient specimens.

• The ability to detect short samples.

• The ability to perform testing on samples with 0.5 ml of whole blood.

• The ability to perform mixing of samples on board the analyzer.

• The ability to measure directly the intensity of red cell aggregation.

Hardware Features:

The instrumentation shall have the following:

• All monitors/screens will clearly display information in all light conditions.

• A printer that has the capability of printing a patient report with patient demographic information. that includes minimally the patient’s name and accession or unique identifier number (UID).

Interface Requirements:

• A bi-directional, bar-coded computer interface compatible with the current VA laboratory information system and future system, Oracle Health (Formerly known as Cerner). The fully operational interface (both hardware and software) shall be immediately available for implementation to the VA computerized hospital information system

• Equipment must be able to support multiple barcode formats (Code 39, Code

128) that may be enabled concurrently.

• Equipment must accept, at a minimum, 10 characters in specimen identifier that is alphanumeric that may be enabled concurrently.

• A barcode reading accuracy rate of 99% or greater.

• The Contractor shall be responsible for providing all hardware required for the connection, implementation, and operation of the interface to the universal interface and any incremental fee that is required each time an instrument is added to an existing universal interface system (see Exhibit A below).

• Analyzer must have a bi-directional HL7 interface with Dual TCP/IP capability.

• The vendor shall provide assistance with setting up Autoverification through Data

Innovations, and work with the Laboratory LIMs to interface VISTA LIS with vendor provided instruments.

• Provide remote or onsite guidance on validation techniques and assist troubleshooting.

• Provide support and guidance during modifications of final Autoverification build. For example, modifying rules logic cutoff based on evolving SOPs.

• The Contractor shall provide any and all necessary software support for ensuring that successful interfacing has been established. Specific requirements for the communication of the data streams will be unique to the instrument system involved and dictated by the manufacturer itself. Information necessary to make the determination for type and amount of interfacing equipment is supplied in Exhibit A.

• If a site already has a universal interface box, the Contractor is responsible for everything leading up to the box including any incremental fee required to add additional equipment (e.g. licenses, ports/cards, cables, software, etc.) to the universal interfacing system.

• If a site does not have a universal interface and one is needed to optimally interface the instrument, then the Contractor is responsible for the acquisition of the universal interface box and everything else needed to connect with VA computerized hospital information system.

• If there are any software upgrades in the instrument during its life, the Contractor is responsible for seeing that the interface can accommodate any changes in the data stream going to the VA computerized hospital information system.

• Analyzer must function using an operating system that is approved to connect to the VA computer systems.

• Vendor must complete the following documentation that is attached to the solicitation:

• 6550 Pre-Procurement Assessment

• MDS2

• ACL Communication Profile

• Current ISA/MOU and BAA with the VA, if applicable

• Contractor shall provide that are applicable for remote connection to the interface system used to manage the testing system.

Method Performance/Validation Requirements:

• Method performance/comparison shall be completed by and at the expense of the Contractor, shall include linearity material and reagents, and be consistent with current CLSI guidelines and related documents, College of American Pathologists (CAP) standards and Federal regulations.

• Correlation studies for each analyte. A minimum of 40 samples spanning the reportable range, shall be run by the present and the proposed method. In systems where multiple sampling modes exist, mode to mode correlation studies must also be performed. Contractor shall analyze results and provide statistical data to support acceptance of the new method for above studies. Statistics shall consist of at least mean, bias, slope, y-intercept, correlation coefficient, ROC analysis, and meet current standards defined by CLSI.

• Analytical Measurement Range (AMR) Validation shall be performed on proposed instrument(s) for each analyte to validate the reportable range. The material must have values which are near the low, mid, and high values of the AMR and be of appropriate matrix for the clinical specimens assayed by that method. A minimum 5-point linearity analysis that adheres to the Beer-Lambert Law and spans the entire range shall be performed as a minimum.

• Precision studies using normal and abnormal control material. This shall consist of a within-run precision study of 10 normal and 10 abnormal controls and a day-to-day precision study of normal controls and abnormal controls for 10 days (maybe run twice a day) for a total of 20 values per level of control. Intra-VISN facility variations should be kept at an absolute minimum.

• Sensitivity. Sensitivity may be validated concurrently with correlation studies.

Mathematical calculations to determine efficiency, sensitivity, false positive rate, and false negative rate are applied.

• Specificity Studies. A review of product literature and assay inserts to determine any adverse effects for increased bilirubin, hemolysis, lipemia, or other interrupting substances.

• Reference Range – A reference range must be determined for each test following CLSI Guidelines. Samples used for the reference range study must be representative of the patient population being tested. One of the following protocols shall be used:

• A verification of the manufacturer’s suggested reference range may be performed as long as the suggested range is based on a comparable population of test subjects. The manufacturer shall provide specific information defining how the suggested range was determined. A minimum of 20 reference individuals shall be used to verify the manufacturer’s range. Any apparent outliers should be discarded, and new specimens obtained to provide a statistically valid verification.

• If the suggested manufacturer’s range is not appropriate for the patient population, a reference range shall be established. Establishing a reference must follow CLSI guidelines. This requires a minimum of 120 reference individuals to be used to establish a reference range. The reference interval should be determined using the nonparametric method.

Other Requirements:

• Alert/Notification of any delays in shipment as well as any or all technical advisory/recalls/alerts, prior to or simultaneously with field alerts should be forwarded to the designated individuals determined at contract award.

Support Features:

The equipment models being offered shall be in current production as of the date this offer is submitted. “Current production” shall mean that the clinical laboratory analyzer model is being offered as new equipment. Discontinued models that are only being made available as remanufactured equipment are not acceptable.

• Commercial marketing. The equipment models being offered shall be in current production as of the date this offer is submitted. For purposes of this solicitation, “current production” shall mean that the clinical laboratory analyzer model is being offered as new equipment. Discontinued models that are only being made available as remanufactured equipment are not acceptable.

• Commercial offerings. The Contractor shall provide any additional support material that is routinely provided to equivalent commercial customers and assists in regulatory compliance, e.g. Computer disc containing their procedure manual in CLSI format or an online procedure manual in the instrument software.

• Start-Up Reagents. The Contractor shall provide all reagents, calibrators, controls, consumable/disposable items, parts, accessories and any other item included on the list of supplies defined in the Federal Supply Schedule contract and required to establish instruments for operation for performance of acceptance testing. The Contractor shall perform, to the satisfaction of the Government, all validation studies including precision, method comparison with current analyzer, accuracy (recovery), calibration verification, verification of reference interval, and determination of sensitivity and specificity at no cost to the Government. The Contractor shall perform all of the statistical analysis as stated in the Method Performance/Validation section above and report data in an organized, clearly comprehensible format.

• Training.

• Upon Installation: The Contractor shall provide advanced (key operator) instrument training program for at least two operators per facility at no charge to the Government that is coordinated with and timely with the equipment installation, sufficient to the size and scope of the facility’s services and minimally equivalent to the terms and conditions for training defined in the Contractor’s Federal Supply Schedule FSC Group 66, Part III, Cost-Per-Test Clinical Laboratory Analyzers contract. This shall include training on the operation of the system, data manipulation, and basic troubleshooting and repair.

• Thereafter: The Contractor shall provide training for minimally one operator per facility per year at the discretion of the Government for each model of instrumentation placed. Utilization of the training slots shall be mutually agreed upon between the VA and the Contractor. A training program that involves off-site travel shall include the cost of airfare, room, and board for each participant.

Service Requirements-:

Equipment Preventative Maintenance/Repair Service.

• The Contractor shall be able to provide emergency equipment repair and preventative maintenance on all primary and back-up instrumentation and any incremental support equipment, e.g. water system, offered according to the following terms:

• A technical assistance center shall be available by telephone 24 hours per day, 7 days per week with a maximum call back response time of 1 hour.

• Equipment repair service shall be provided during core business hours. Certain circumstances may dictate the need for repair service to be conducted outside routine business hours. All such arrangements shall be coordinated between the Contractor and VA laboratory personnel.

• Equipment repair response time shall be no more than 24 hours.

• Preventative maintenance will be performed as frequently as published in manufacturer’s operator’s manual and within 2 weeks of the scheduled due date.

• A malfunction incident report shall be furnished to the Laboratory upon completion of each repair call. The report shall include, as a minimum, the following: date and time notified, date and time of arrival serial number, type and model number of equipment, time spent for repair, and proof of repair that includes documentation of a sample run of quality control verifying acceptable performance.

• Each notification for an emergency repair service call shall be treated as a separate and new service call.

Upgrades-

The Contractor shall provide upgrades to the equipment hardware, bidirectional interface and software in order to maintain the integrity of the system and the state-of–the art technology, at no additional charge to the Government if sites are interested. These shall be provided as they become commercially available and at the same time as they are being provided to commercial customers. This requirement only applies to “system upgrades” that enhance the model of equipment being offered, i.e. new version of the software, correction of a hardware defect, upgrade offered to commercial customers at no additional charge, upgrade to replace the model of equipment no longer Contractor supported, etc. This does not refer to replacing the original piece of equipment provided under the BPA; however, it does refer to significant changes in the hardware operational capability.

Ancillary support equipment - The Contractor shall provide, install and maintain through the life of the BPA, as indicated, any and all ancillary support equipment to fully operate the analyzer as defined in these specifications, e.g. universal interface equipment. In addition, the Contractor shall include all ancillary components that are customarily sold or provided with the model of equipment proposed, e.g. starter kits, etc.

Characterization of waste- The Contractor shall provide documentation that it has characterized the hazardous nature of all wastes produced by all equipment, devices, reagents, and discharges in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 “Protection of the Environment” Part 261 et seq. and applicable state and local requirements.

Documentation shall include a description of the characteristics of the hazardous waste produced as a byproduct of the instrument operations, Safety Data Sheets (SDS) meeting the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the analytical process used to determine the hazardous nature and characteristics of the waste, and the analytical test results. Testing of hazardous waste is to be done in accordance with testing protocol specified for each individual waste as described in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 to make a determination if the waste is a hazardous waste or otherwise regulated.

• The determination and description shall address the following:

• Waste toxicity (Reference 40 CFR §261.11 and 40 CFR §261.24)

• Waste ignitability (Reference 40 CFR §261.21)

• Waste corrosivity (Reference 40 CFR §261.22)

• Waste reactivity (Reference 40 CFR §261.23)

• Hazardous waste from non-specific sources (F-listed) (Reference 40 CFR §261.31)

• Discarded commercial products (acutely toxic or P-listed and toxic or U-listed)

(Reference 40 CFR §261.33)

• Solid Waste (Reference 40 CFR §261.2)

• Exclusions (Reference 40 CFR §261.4)

• The contractor will provide written instructions and training material to ensure VHA laboratory staff are trained as needed to properly operate devices with special emphasis on managing and disposing of hazardous waste in accordance with EPA and state requirements. Additionally, the training provided by the contractor must fulfill Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements for training as applicable to devices.

• Contractor shall provide a description of all wastes the process or equipment may discharge so that the facility can determine whether the discharge meets Local Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW), State and Federal discharge requirements. At a minimum the characteristics of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity as defined in 40 CFR §261 must be determined and documented. Any mercury containing reagents must be identified in any concentrations. All test results shall be provided. All listed chemicals (F, U, K and P) found in 40 CFR §261 shall be provided in product information and their concentrations documented. For those materials with positive hazardous waste determination, a mechanism for the laboratory to meet local discharge requirements (i.e. mercury, thimerosol and formaldehyde) must be developed and SDS sheets must be provided in advance for review. At a minimum, documentation shall include, but not be limited to the concentration/measures of the elements and parameters listed below and must be included with vendor response:

• Barium (Total)

• Cadmium (Total)

• Chromium (Total)

• Copper (Total)

• Cyanide (Total)

• Lead (Total)

• Mercury (Total)

• Nickel (Total)

• Silver (Total)

• Zinc (Total)

• Arsenic (Total)

• Selenium (Total)

• Tin (Total)

• pH

• Flash point (to higher than 200°F)

• BOD; biochemical oxygen demand

• The documentation the contractor provides will be used to work with the VAMC and the public and/or private organization (e.g., POTW) to determine whether the waste from each device can legally be disposed of via the sewerage system.

Implementation/transition timeframe - The implementation of the services/requirements described in this solicitation shall be completed no later than 90 days after the award. This timeline is based on a reasonable attempt of the Contractor to complete all of the necessary implementation requirements within the stated timeframe. Contractor shall not be penalized for implementation timelines that extend beyond the 90-day timeframe, if the extension is through no fault of the Contractor and is a result of delays due to the Government.

• Upon award, the transition period for the awarded agreement to have all equipment and peripherals installed and operational shall be from the date of award through 90 days. During this same period all initial training of VA personnel in the operation and maintenance of said award shall also be completed.

• Contractor shall provide with its quotation an implementation plan for installation of new equipment. Contractor’s submitted plan shall not exceed 90 days for the transition of all services under the awarded BPA including installation and training of personnel, transition of all testing materials, reagents and supplies, etc., performance of all correlations and validations. Failure of the Contractor to conform to the transition period shall be considered as sufficient cause to terminate BPA for cause under the Termination for Cause clause of the BPA.

• At the end of 90 days from award of the BPA, the awarded Contractor shall have full and sole responsibility for services under the awarded BPA.

Standard and Quality of Performance- This paragraph establishes a standard of quality performance that shall be met before any equipment listed on the delivery order [or BPA] is accepted by the Government. This also includes replacement, substitute machines and machines that are added or field modified after a system has demonstrated successful performance. The acceptance period shall begin on the installation date. It shall end when the equipment has met the standard of performance for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days by operating in conformance with the Contractor’s technical specification or as quoted in any BPA at an effective level of 90% or more.

• In the event that equipment does not meet the standard of performance during the initial 30 consecutive calendar days, the standard of performance tests shall continue on a day-by-day basis until the standard of performance is met for a total of 30 consecutive days.

• Operational use time for performance testing for a system is defined as the accumulated time during which the machine is in actual use. System failure downtime is that period of time when any machine in the system is inoperable due to equipment failure. Downtime for each incident shall start from the time the Government makes a bona fide attempt to contact the Contractor’s designated representative at the prearranged contact point until the system or machine(s) is returned to the Government in proper operating condition.

• During the performance period for a system, a minimum of 100 hours of operational use time with productive or simulated work shall be required as a basis for computation of the effectiveness level. However, in computing the effectiveness level, the actual number of operational use hours shall be used when in excess of the minimum of 100 hours. [reference: Master FSS]

• The Government will maintain daily records to satisfy the requirements of the Standard and Quality of Performance section and shall notify the Contractor in writing of the date of the first day of the successful period of operation. Operations use time and downtime shall be measured in hours and whole minutes.

• During the term of the BPA, should the repair record of any individual piece of laboratory equipment reflect a downtime of 10% or greater of the normal working days in one calendar month, a determination shall be made by the COR to replace the malfunctioning equipment with new equipment. The responsibility for maintaining the equipment furnished in good condition in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions, shall be solely that of the Contractor. [reference: Master FSS]. Each instrument provided by the Contractor shall maintain an uptime of 90% in each month of the term of the agreement for equipment.

Government’s Responsibility- The user will perform routine maintenance and cleaning as required in the manufacturer’s operation and maintenance instructions. The user shall maintain appropriate records to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.

Ownership of Equipment- Title to the equipment shall remain with the Contractor. All accessories (unused consumables, etc.) furnished by the Contractor shall accompany the equipment when returned to the Contractor. The Contractor, upon expiration of order(s), at termination and/or replacement of equipment, shall remove the equipment. The Contractor shall disconnect the analyzer (gas, water, air, etc.) and shall be responsible for all packing and shipping required to remove the analyzer.

• The Contractor will identify if removable media is required to perform their duties.

The Clinical Engineering Department will ensure the removable media is scanned with anti-virus software running current virus definitions prior to connection to any medical device/system. Any Contractor with patient sensitive information that is imported into the removable media device for any reason must purge all patient sensitive information prior to departure from the facility.

• Prior to termination or completion of this BPA, Contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the Contractor in the course of performing this BPA without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a Contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the Contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination or completion of the BPA.

• All electronic storage media used on non-VA leased or non-VA owned IT equipment that is used to store, process, or access VA information must be handled in adherence with VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization upon: (i) completion or termination of the BPA or (ii) disposal or return of the IT equipment by the Contractor/subcontractor or any person acting on behalf of the Contractor/subcontractor, whichever is earlier. Media (hard drives, optical disks, CDs, back-up tapes, etc.) used by the Contractors/subcontractors that contain VA information must be returned to the VA for sanitization or destruction or the Contractor/subcontractor must self-certify that the media has been disposed of per

6500.1 requirements. This must be completed within 30 days of termination or completion of the BPA or disposal or return of the IT equipment, whichever is earlier.

• Bio-Medical devices and other equipment or systems containing media (hard drives, optical disks, etc.) with VA sensitive information must not be returned to the Contractor at the end of lease, for trade-in, or other purposes. The options are:

• Contractor must accept the system without the drive

• VA’s initial medical device procurement includes a spare drive which must be installed in place of the original drive at time of turn-in; or

• VA must reimburse the company for media at a reasonable open market replacement cost at time of purchase.

• Due to the highly specialized and sometimes proprietary hardware and software associated with medical equipment/systems, if it is not possible for the VA to retain the hard drive, then;

• The equipment Contractor must have an existing BAA if the device being traded in has protected health information stored on it and hard drive(s) from the system are being returned physically intact; and

• Any fixed hard drive on the device must be non-destructively sanitized to the greatest extent possible without negatively impacting system operation.

Selective clearing down to patient data folder level is recommended using VA approved and validated overwriting technologies/methods/tools. Applicable media sanitization specifications need to be pre-approved and described in the purchase order or BPA.

• A statement needs to be signed by the Director (System Owner) that states that the drive could not be removed and that (a) and (b) controls above are in place and completed. The Information Security Officer (ISO) needs to maintain the documentation.

Exhibit A:

Contract Administration Data:

All contract administration functions will be retained by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Contracting Officer will be the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements under this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer will be authorized to make commitments or issue changes that affect price, quantity, or quality of performance of this contract. In the event the Contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the Contracting Officer, the change shall be considered unauthorized and no adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any increase in costs incurred as a result thereof.

Contracting Officer’s Representative:

Pursuant to VAAR Provision 852.270-1, Representatives of Contracting Officer, the designated representative for this contract will be determined at award.

Acronyms and Definitions:

CDR: Contract Discrepancy Report. Report issued by the Government to the contractor to document a supply or service found to be unacceptable during contract performance.

CLIN: Contract Line-Item Number. Unit of work (or service) to be performed (or delivered) by the contractor as a pay item.

CO: Contracting Officer. A person with the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings.

COR: Contracting Officer’s Representative. An individual, including a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), designated and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions.

QA: Quality Assurance. Actions taken by the government to assure contracted services meet

PWS

requirements.

Personnel:

FACILITY Annual Estimated Workload Instrument Cost Per Test Extended Costs

Kansas City 3600 $0.00 Jefferson Barracks 840 $0.00 Leavenworth 1649 $0.00 St. Louis 2000 $0.00 Topeka 550 $0.00 Wichita 2600 $0.00 Poplar Bluff 550 $0.00 Columbia 3600 $0.00

Non-Personal Services This is a non-personal services contract. Personnel rendering services under this contract are not subject either by the contract’s terms or by the manner of its administration, to the supervision and control usually prevailing in relationships between the government and its employees. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service s performing services herein. Such contract service s shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn, is responsible to the Government. Contractor Compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Contractor shall comply with any and all legal provisions contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, As Amended; its related laws and regulations that are enforced by Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S Department of Labor as these may relate to non-immigrant foreign nationals working under contract or subcontract for the Contractor while providing services to Department of Veterans Affairs patient referrals.

Hours of Operations:

Business hours for the VAMC follow:

a. Administrative hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

b. National Holidays: The 11 holidays observed by the Federal Government are:

New Year’s Day;

Martin Luther King’s Birthday;

Presidents Day;

Memorial Day;

Juneteenth Independence Day Independence Day;

Labor Day;

Columbus Day;

Veterans Day;

Thanksgiving;

Christmas; and any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

c. Off-Duty hours: Friday through Monday, 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.; Monday through Thursday, 4:30 pm – 8:00 am.

Quality Control:

CONTRACT PERFORMANCE MONITORING. The COR may perform surveillance of services by any of the methods listed below:

a. Observing actual performance;

b. Inspecting the services to determine whether or not the performance meets the performance standards; and

c. Review of any other appropriate records.

1. When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the Contractor and the Contracting Officer. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR file. When the COR determines formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) and present it to the contractor program manager. The Contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the Contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the Contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence.

The CDR will also state how long after receipt the Contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the Contractor corrective action plan to determine acceptability. Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer.

2. Pursuant to VAAR Provision 852.270-1, Representatives of Contracting Officer representative(s); The Government shall periodically evaluate the Contractor performance by appointing a Contracting Officers Representative (COR) to monitor performance to ensure services are received. The Government representative(s) shall evaluate the Contractor performance through inspections of observations, inspection of services or any other form of documentation and all complaints from VA personnel. The Government may inspect as each task is completed or increase the number of quality assurance inspections if deemed appropriate because of repeated failures or because of repeated customer complaints. Likewise, the Government may decrease the number of quality assurance inspections if performance dictates. The Government Contracting Officer shall make final determination of the validity of customer complaint(s).

3. If any of the services do not conform to contract requirements, the Government may require the Contractor to perform the services again in conformity with contract requirements, at no increase in contract amount. When the defects in services cannot be corrected by re-performance, the Government may require the Contractor to take necessary action to ensure that future performance conforms to contract requirements at no additional cost to the Government.

Contract Security:

“The C&A requirements do not apply and a Security Accreditation Package is not required”

B.3 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

ITEM INFORMATION

Ordering Period One Period 05-31-2026 through 04-30-2027

ITEM

NUMBER

DESCRIPTION OF

SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

0001 Kansas City - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________ Cost per Test for Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Instrumentation.

Analyzer included. Quantity per year is estimated.

0002 Jefferson Barracks - 840.00 EA __________________ __________________ Cost per Test for Automated Erythrocyte Sedimentation Instrumentation

0003 Leavenworth - 1,649.00 EA __________________ __________________

0004 St. Louis - 2,000.00 EA __________________ __________________

Analyzer included. Quantity per year is estimated

0005 Topeka - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

0006 Wichita - 2,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

0007 Poplar Bluff - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

0008 Columbia - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

Ordering Period Two Period 05-31-2027 through 04-30-2028

1001 Kansas City - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

1002 Jefferson Barracks - 840.00 EA __________________ __________________

1003 Leavenworth - 1,649.00 EA __________________ __________________

1004 St. Louis - 2,000.00 EA __________________ __________________

1005 Topeka - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

1006 Wichita - 2,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

1007 Poplar Bluff - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

1008 Columbia - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

Ordering Period Three Period 05-31-2028 through 04-30-2029

2001 Kansas City - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

2002 Jefferson Barracks - 840.00 EA __________________ __________________

2003 Leavenworth - 1,649.00 EA __________________ __________________

2004 St. Louis - 2,000.00 EA __________________ __________________

2005 Topeka - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

2006 Wichita - 2,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

2007 Poplar Bluff - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

2008 Columbia - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

Ordering Period Four Period 05-31-2029 through 04-30-2030

3001 Kansas City - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

3002 Jefferson Barracks - 840.00 EA __________________ __________________

3003 Leavenworth - 1,649.00 EA __________________ __________________

3004 St. Louis - 2,000.00 EA __________________ __________________

3005 Topeka - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

3006 Wichita - 2,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

3007 Poplar Bluff - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

3008 Columbia - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

Ordering Period Five Period 05-31-2030 through 04-30-2031

4001 Kansas City - 3,600.00 EA __________________ __________________

4002 Jefferson Barracks - 840.00 EA __________________ __________________

4003 Leavenworth - 1,649.00 EA __________________ __________________

4004 St. Louis - 2,000.00 EA __________________ __________________

4005 Topeka - 550.00 EA __________________ __________________

4006 Wichita -…