36C25920A0036-001.pdf

VHAPM Part 808.405-6 Limiting Sources Page 1 of 5 Original Date: 08/30/2017 Revision 02 Eff Date: 02/21/2020

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

ORDER >SAT

FAR PART 8.405-6

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C259-19-AP-2803

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 19, 6162 South Willow Drive, Suite 300, Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Organizational Activities: PURCHASE REQUEST (2237) VA Montana Health Care System, 1892 Williams St, Fort 436‐20-3-112-0298 Harrison, MT 59636

Billings VA Community‐Based Out‐Patient Clinic, 1775 436‐20-3-820-0078 Spring Creek Dr., Billings, MT 59102

Cheyenne VA Medical Center (VAMC), 2360 E Pershing Blvd, 442‐20-3-054-0022 Cheyenne, WY 82001

VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, 1700 554‐20-2-023-0184 N Wheeling Street, Aurora, CO 80045

VA Western Colorado Health Care System, 2121 North Ave, 575‐20-2-035-0006 Grand Junction, CO 81501

Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, Jack C. 623‐20-2-074-0073 Montgomery VA Medical Center, 1011 Honor Heights Dr., Muskogee, OK 74401

Oklahoma City VA Health Care System, 921 NE 13th St, 635‐20-3-114-0085 Oklahoma City, OK 73104

VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, 500 Foothill Blvd, 660‐20-2-098-0154 Salt Lake City, UT 84148

Sheridan VAMC, 1898 Fort Rd., Sheridan, WY 82801 666‐20-3-113-0173

2. Description of Action: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple‐ Award Schedule Program (41 U.S.C. 152(3) and 40 U.S.C. 501). The proposed action is a request for approval for a new, sole source award to the incumbent contractor, Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) for Off‐site Reference Laboratory Testing and Analysis Services. This will be a firm-fixed price FSS BPA (Blanket Purchase Agreement) against V797D‐50532.

BPA order against: FSS Contract Number: V797D‐50532

Name of Proposed Contractor: Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp)

VHAPM Part 808.405-6 Limiting Sources Page 2 of 5

Revision 02 Eff Date: 02/21/2020

Street Address: 231 Maple Ave.

City, State, Zip: Burlington, NC 27215

Phone: 502-228-8630

3. Description of Supplies or Services:

The estimated cost of the proposed action is $5,182,000.00 for base period of 6-months and one (1), 6-month option period to follow. The estimated cost of each 6-month period of performance is

$2,591,000.00.

This requirement is for Off‐site Reference Laboratory and Analysis Testing Services which includes pickup and transport of specimens, per‐analytical processing as defined in its laboratory manual, analysis, reporting of analytical results and interpretation for clinical and anatomical pathological specimens. The incumbent Contractor, LabCorp, will continue to provide a wide range of testing services in the specialized testing areas of hematology, chemistry, coagulation, microbiology, molecular, genetics, virology, clinical interpretation, cytology and anatomic pathology, oncology, and in specialized pathology support.

This sole source BPA will serve as an interim contract from April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020, followed by one (1) 6-month option period to continue services without interruptions and maintain critical patient care until a new, long term BPA is awarded. The current Task Order expires on 3/31/19 with no extensions available, leaving insufficient time to solicit and award a high-dollar contact before October 01, 2020. Therefore, an interim BPA is needed to allow for enough time for pre-solicitation review and approval, solicitation, proposal evaluation, and award.

(4) IDENTIFY THE AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE, AND IF APPLICABLE, A

DEMONSTRATION OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS TO PROVIDE THE

REQUIRED SUPPLY OR SERVICE.

An urgent and compelling need exists and following the ordering procedures would result in unacceptable delays. This requirement has unique reasons in supporting urgent and compelling:

Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized;

With a required start date of 4/1/20, there is only one vendor currently in the position to provide all the requirements of the SOW, and that is LabCorp. Performance of this reference lab testing service is crucial to patient care and requires the contractor to have an electronic interface set-up with all 8 VISN 19 stations. This interface allows a streamlined process for ordering tests as well as receiving and analyzing the results. The current average monthly number of tests ordered by VISN 19 stations ranges from approximately 500 up to 7000-8000 for the larger stations such as Denver, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake City. Without the approved electronic interface, every test would have to be created, submitted, and the results received and analyzed manually. This manual process is extremely time consuming, so much so that current staffing levels at most of the VISN 19 facilities could not support the present volume. In addition, the risk to patient care is greatly increased due to the amount of human performed, manual processes involved. The possibility of error during any phase of the testing/analyzing process increases tremendously without the electronic interface. Under current VA information security/IT

VHAPM Part 808.405-6 Limiting Sources Page 3 of 5

Revision 02 Eff Date: 02/21/2020 policies, the time it takes for a new vendor to set up an approved electronic interface at any one of the eight VISN 19 stations is 6-12 months conservatively. Any new vendor would have to do this at all 8 in order to fulfill the needs of this requirement.

Part of establishing the electronic interface is the entering of all contractor test names, codes, and the corresponding test result ranges into the VA VISTA system prior to beginning any reference lab requirement. These tests can number in the hundreds to thousands depending on the station and can take several months to complete the initial entries to be used in the electronic interface moving forward. If a new contractor was selected it would be physically impossible to have their tests entered into the VA VISTA system for a 4/1/20 start date, not to mention there would still be no electronic interface to use once they were entered.

The length of this proposed interim contract is meant to maximize competition for the new long-term contract as any contractor other than LabCorp would require a 6-12 months lead time to establish and implement their approved electronic interface.

The off-site testing handled by this requirement has an impact on direct patient care, diagnosing conditions and/or determining the course of treatment for many veterans every month. Accurate, timely test results are imperative for reliable, ongoing patient care. Without a reliable contractor capable of meeting the timelines of the numerous tests, results may be delayed, inaccurate, or both.

This would cause a significant reduction in the quality of patient care as well as lead to increase costs to the Government.

The unique characteristics of the current contractor, LabCorp, is the existence of a fully functional and VA approved electronic interface (required per the SOW). This interface connectivity allows the quick passing of data from Contractor to the Government (and vice versa) and is already entered in the computerized patient record system (CPRS/VISTA). The laboratory is also required to utilize automatic interfaces to the maximum extent possible as a primary patient safety system to reduce errors in reporting.

In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order must not have been previously issued under sole source or limited source procedures.

Items peculiar to one manufacturer:

A patent, copyright or proprietary data limits competition. The proprietary data is:

(If FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)iii before posting. Do not include specific proprietary data. Only mention the type of equipment, procedure, etc. to show that proprietary supplies or services are being procured.)

These are “direct replacements” parts/components for existing equipment.

The material/service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit and function) with existing systems presently installed/performing. Describe the equipment/function you have

VHAPM Part 808.405-6 Limiting Sources Page 4 of 5

Revision 02 Eff Date: 02/21/2020 now and how the new item/service must coordinate, connect, or interface with the existing system.

(5) DESCRIBE WHY YOU BELIEVE THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE CONSISTENT WITH FAR 8.404(d) TO AID THE CONTRACTING OFFICER IN MAKING THIS BEST VALUE DETERMINATION:

GSA has already determined the prices of LabCorp services to be fair and reasonable and the CO has requested further possible discounts from the vendor and will document those accordingly if offered.

Additionally, the VA has had satisfactory or better service performance from LabCorp on current contacts and in the past. Due to the required start date of the requirement, comparison/analysis of other potential GSA schedule holders was not conducted as any new vendor would have to undergo the months long process of gaining authorized access to the VA’s electronic test reporting system. The time it would take to find and vet a new vendor would put patient care at risk. It is, therefore, the best value to the Government to award to LapCorp as an emergency.

(6) DESCRIBE THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG SCHEDULE HOLDERS AND THE RESULTS

OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED:

Market research was limited to obtaining a quote from the incumbent, LabCorp, and verifying through responsibility checks their ability to receive an award. Due to the required start date of the requirement, formal market research was not conducted to include the “Rule of Two” process because time is of the essence to maintain this critical patient care services before April 01, 2020. There is a new competitive requirement under‐way and thorough market research will be conducted to the greatest extent practicable.

(7) ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION:

NCO 19 is actively working on the best strategy for the solicitation and award of a new long term, reference lab testing contract covering all of VISN 19. Award is anticipated in twelve to eighteen months.

(8) A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE RESTRICTED CONSIDERATION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION

FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IS MADE:

This is a time sensitive sole source requirement, meant to allow for adequate time to put the new long-term contract in place (already in process), there are no barriers to overcome. The additional time is needed due to changes in the vendor pool, with multiple small businesses (including at least one SDVOSB) claiming the capability to provide a portion of the required tests in a portion of the required geographic areas.

(9) REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that processing of this limited sources justification restricts consideration of

VHAPM Part 808.405-6 Limiting Sources Page 5 of 5

Revision 02 Eff Date: 02/21/2020

Federal Supply Schedule contractors to fewer than the number required by FAR Subpart 8.4. (This signature is the requestor’s supervisor, fund control point official, chief of service or someone with responsibility and accountability.)

3/23/20__

SIGNATURE DATE

Ben Bloom Medical Technologist LAB

NAME TITLE SERVICE LINE/SECTION

RMRVAMC

FACILITY

(10) APPROVALS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP:

a. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

CONTRACTING OFFICER/DESIGNEE’S SIGNATURE DATE

Albert Williams – Division Chief

NAME AND TITLE

b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over the SAT but not exceeding $700K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

SIGNATURE DATE

Danny O. Freeman Director of Contracting

NCO 19

c. VHA SAO HCA REVIEW AND APPROVAL (over $700,000 to $68 million): I have reviewed the foregoing justification and find it to be complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief and approve for restricting consideration of the Federal Supply Schedule contractors to fewer than the number required by FAR Subpart 8.4.

Curtis M. Jordan Executive Director, Regional Procurement Office West DATE Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) https://vaww.pclo.infoshare.va.gov/PMWeb/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx https://vaww.pclo.infoshare.va.gov/PMWeb/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx VHAECHWilliA Typewritten Text 23 Mar 2020

VHAV19FreemD Typewritten Text 03/23/2020