Questions and Answers for RFP 36C25925R0019.docx

6835--VISN 19 Medical Gases and Cylinders Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Solicitation Number: 36C25925R0019

QUESTIONS (Q) AND ANSWERS (A):

Q1. Could you please clarify the period of performance?

A1. The period of performance as stated on the combined synopsis/solicitation is “Base Year Plus Four One Year Options”

Q2. Will the VA add/accept cylinder rental line items to the pricing schedule for each location?

A2. Yes, the rental CLIN is included for each station. Updated “Attachment 3- VISN 19 Medical Gas Items 01-27-2025” shows the rental by each type of cylinder and will be calculated as shown on the document for evaluation purposes.

Q3. Please confirm award to a qualified SDVOB is relegated to the “all or none” as stated in the RFQ, specifically meaning the Offeror must provide demonstrative proof that they can support all (7) VAMCs/HCS to include (significantly) geographically separated CBOCs?

A3. Correct, the offeror must be able to provide proof that they can support all Medical Facilities and their outlying CBOCs.

Q4. What is the GOV rationale for: SOW Para 2.7 states: Contractor shall, in conjunction with medical center staff, provide up to two on-site inventories per year per medical center as requested by the upon medical center request?

A4. Please see the “Updated Attachment 1- VISN 19 Medical Gases SOW 01-27-2025” para 2.7.

2.7 Contractor shall, in conjunction with medical center staff, provide a minimum of one (1) on-site inventory per year per medical center as requested by the upon medical center request.

2.7.1 Designated VA Personnel will escort the contractor to each location where cylinders are stored, including any CBOC within 50 miles of the main facility.

2.7.2 If the CBOC(s) are more than 50 miles from a main facility, the inventory will be conducted by designated and trained VA personnel.

Please note Annual Loss of Use Inventory CLIN has been added to cover the cost of the one yearly on-site annual inventory.

Q5. Para 7 states - Attaching of oxygen cylinders to manifold systems, when required, shall also be performed by the contractor at no additional cost. In addition to services listed in this paragraph, the contractor is responsible for all maintenance and testing of contractor-owned cylinders?

A5. This will remain in the SOW as written; the facilities do not have the staffing and/or expertise to perform this function.

Please see the amended Statement of Work (SOW) para 7.

PRICE OF SERVICES FOR GOVERNMENT-OWNED AND CONTRACTOR-OWNED CYLINDERS

The offeror's price for the gas shall include the furnishing, at no additional cost, of all services which are required at every filling of a cylinder to comply with applicable regulations, specifications, and normal good practices. Such services shall include, but not be limited to: tags indicating cylinder is "Full," In Use," or "Empty"; inspection, testing, evaluation, and cleaning services required at every filling; pin- indexing, when required, and attachment of Government-furnished warning tags, when required. The contractor at no additional cost will provide transitional “Train the Trainer” training to designated VA personnel on the proper procedures involving the attachment of oxygen cylinders to manifold systems if required. In addition to services listed in this paragraph, the contractor is responsible for all maintenance and testing of contractor-owned cylinders.

Q6. Can the GOV please define what “less allocable rent means/quantifies as?”

A6. The paid rental cost for the damaged cylinder will be subtracted from the total cost to replace the lost or unrepairable damaged cylinder.

Q7. Can the GOV please define how they intend to identify a lost cylinders “found” within 30 days? If the offeror does not scan the cylinders (have a scanning system) it is impossible to discern “a lost cylinder was not counted during an audit.” Simply put, how does the GOV intend to identify a lost Cylinder as “not being counted, and now found?”

A7. Because the tanks delivered are not VA property, they often aren’t the same tanks. Unless the offeror has a way to inventory the actual items upon pick-up (barcode, RFID) we can only inventory based off log sheets of what goes out/in to ratify it against the billing.

Q8. During audits/inventory, please confirm that the GOV bears sole responsibility for taking the inventory Team to the cylinder locations internal to a VAMC/CBOC? This is a key task for two reasons, 1) an Offeror does not know where our Contractor owned Cylinders reside within a facility, and we can “only count cylinders where you take us.” Please confirm this is the GOV’s responsibility, and that the signed audit (by the GOV and the SDVOB Awardee) stands as true and correct, hence not a reason for a “readudit” because (as is often stated) “we did not go to all the locations where cylinders were.’ COMMENT: This is why the GOV conducting an internal audit annual trains a cadre of Facility Personnel familiar with Cylinder placement within a facility, hence when the Annual Audit (albeit funded audit by CLIN), is conducted, it is conducted in an efficient and comprehensive manner ensuring visibility on all Contractor owned Cylinders.

A8. Please see the “Updated Attachment 1- VISN 19 Medical Gases SOW 01-27-2025” para 2.7.

2.7 Contractor shall, in conjunction with medical center staff, provide a minimum of one (1) on-site inventory per year per medical center as requested by the upon medical center request.

2.7.1 Designated VA Personnel will escort the contractor to each location where cylinders are stored, including any CBOC within 50 miles of the main facility.

2.7.2 If the CBOC(s) are more than 50 miles from a main facility, the inventory will be conducted by designated and trained VA personnel.

Q9. Is the tracking system mentioned in Para 9 consistent with a Monthly Summary of all Cylinder Activity that accompanies each monthly Cylinder Refill & Monthly Rental Invoice in Tungsten? And in doing this, when the Invoice is certified monthly for payment, affirms that the tracking system provided is certified as True and Correct for payment?

A9. Please refer to our answer for Question 7, the VA uses log sheets for new and used tanks (empty and full) to compare to the invoices in Tungsten.

Q10. The SOW has no verbiage for Cylinder Loss of Use (LOU) nor repayment mechanism (unfunded Payment CLIN) for Cylinder Loss of Use? This is very unusual, as cylinder LOU is common and can become costly. The issue at hand is that the SDVOB Awardee must either pay our Subcontractor 1) continuing rent, until LOU balances are funded via an approved invoice (i.e. by issuing a funding PO invoiced in Tungsten via a LOU CLIN), or 2) continuing to pay monthly rental to our subs. This is very important as it places the SDVOB Awardee in a position where we must “front the money” to our SUBs and are not reimbursed until the GOV pays us, thus creating a financial hardship. This is now it is done nationwide and is a fair and equitable process. Please keep in mind, the facility must approve any LOU invoice and that is why the integrity of the tracking system is paramount for all stakeholders.

A10. Please see “Updated Attachment 1- VISN 19 Medical Gases SOW 01-27-2025” paragraph 9

9. Lost or Damaged Contractor-Owned Cylinders:

The VA and the Contractor shall perform an annual, on-site inventory, of all Contractor owned cylinders to verify the accuracy of the end of month balance of rental cylinders based off the most recent invoice. Each VA facility will work collaboratively with the Contractor personnel to complete the inventory. The VA will obtain access to all pertinent areas and escort the Contractor personnel for the purpose of counting existing contractor owned cylinders at the specific VA facility. (see paragraph 2.7) For each contractor-owned cylinder lost or damaged beyond repair while in the Government's possession, the Government shall pay to the Contractor the replacement value, less the allocable rental paid for that cylinder. These cylinders shall become Government property. If any lost cylinder is located within 30 calendar days after payment by the Government, it may be returned to the Contractor by the Government, and the Contractor shall pay to the Government an amount equal to the replacement value, less rental. Contractor shall maintain a tracking of the cylinders to ensure proper accountability and shall provide the ordering activities the tracking data upon request.

9.1 Disposal of Government Owned Cylinders: Government owned cylinders that must be disposed of will be covered by a separate purchase order issued for the facility that requires the disposal.

9.2 Repair of Government Owned Cylinders: Repairs on Government owned cylinders will be covered by a separate purchase order issued for the facility that requires the repairs.

Q11. Cylinder rentals post inventory and “allocable rent » Can we define what constitutes “less allocable rent?”

A11. The paid rental cost for the damaged cylinder will be subtracted from the total cost to replace the lost cylinder.

Q12. EMERGENCY DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS: Para 4.6 in the SOW states that Emergency Delivery will be provided within (6) hours after notification. It is nonstandard, nor achievable (to VAMCs and CBOCs is a geographically rural environment) to blanketly require offerors to deliver in emergency conditions within (6) hours for (7) VAMCs across a broad geographical region (especially with CBOCs that may be in rural areas). Will the GOV please amend this requirement to “respond” within (2) hours and deliver within (24) hours to align more with industry practices? Drivers may not have the needed gas on a truck and thus must go back to the fill plant/branch which takes time.

A12. Please see “Updated Attachment 1- VISN 19 Medical Gases SOW 01-27-2025” paragraph 4.6

4.6 Emergency Delivery: the contractor will provide a response within (1) hour of the emergency request and deliver within (6) hours to the medical centers, and/or within (24) hours to the CBOCs. This emergency service will be provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in accordance with the contract.

Q13. MONTHLY RENTAL QTYs: What are the Rental QTYs that each station will use to evaluate pricing submission of offerors? Currently the GOV requests Monthly Rental Pricing, by Gas, as opposed to Cylinder Rental Grouping CLINs (by size/type/functionality) with calculable QTYs (see example below). How are rentals going to be accounted for in the offeror’s price submission total?

A13. The rental CLIN is included for each station. Updated “Attachment 3- VISN 19 Medical Gas Items 01-27-2025” shows the rental by each type of cylinder and will be calculated as shown on the document for evaluation purposes.

Q14. How many GFE QTYs are on the VA’s property books by Gas (e.g., VAMCs Sheridan & Cheyenne)?

A14. VA Montana – 0 (zero) VA Cheyenne – 0 (zero) VA Eastern Colorado – 0 (zero) VA Eastern Oklahoma – 0 (zero) VA Oklahoma City – 0 (zero) VA Salt Lake City – 350 total (250 Oxygen Cylinders, and 100 Oxygen Cylinders with Integrated Regulators) VA Sheridan – 160 Oxygen cylinders

Q15. How many GFE QTYs are on the VA’s property books by Gas (e.g., VAMCs Sheridan & Cheyenne)?

A15. Duplicate question. Please see Question 14 for a response.

Q16/A16. Can you clarify the following CLINs:

VA Cheyenne HCS What is the difference between “Oxygen w/ Built-In Regulator” & “Oxygen, Medical (TO2TE WITH BUILT IN REGULATOR)?” There is no difference, the cylinder items list was created from historical invoiced usage.

What is the purpose of requesting Liquid Nitrogen by the Liter when other stations on this RFQ request it by the full dewar fill (e.g., 10 Liters)? The point of contact at the VA Cheyenne entered this in error. They have 6 dewars not 6 Liters.

VAMC Sheridan HCS- None

VAMC Rocky Mountain Regional HCS What is the % Mixture of the Anaerobic Mix Size 200?

5-10% CO2/5-10%H2/BAL N2-A #200 44 1C

What type of Dry Ice is required (pellets/blocks)? Blocks What is the difference between “Oxygen Medical Grade Walkabout” & “Oxygen w/ Built-In Regulator?” There is no difference, the cylinder items list was created from historical invoiced usage.

VA Montana HCS What is the difference between “Oxygen Medical Grade Walkabout” & “Oxygen w/ Built-In Regulator?” There is no difference, the cylinder items list was created from historical invoiced usage.

VA Eastern OK HCS Please confirm the size required as there are contradictions between description and Size provided (50 LBs & E are completely different cylinders)?

Here are specifications of the cylinder Carbon Dioxide Industrial 50LBS Siphon CGA 320 - PT# CD USP50, MT-CD 50LB USP320, VOL: 50LB What is the PSI required for the 160L Liquid Nitrogen? The PSI is 150

VA Salt Lake City HCS What is the difference between “Carbon Dioxide USP E CGA 940 Size E” & “Carbon Dioxide Size E?” There is no difference, the cylinder items list was created from historical invoiced usage.

Q17/A17. Can you clarify the following CBOC REQUIREMENTS/USAGES:

--What are the specific annual estimated fills/rentals, by gas item, for the CBOCs under each VAMC? This will be coordinated after award. The total estimated use includes the main facilities and CBOCs --What are the estimated on-hand balances, by Gas Item, for the CBOCs under each VAMC? This will be coordinated after award. The total estimated use includes the main facilities and CBOCs --Which CBOCs under each HCS require open mouth Liquid Nitrogen Dewar Fills? None --Given distribution is the highest cost in the industry and VISN 19 covers rural states, will the GOV allow offerors to price cylinder fills between VAMCs/CBOCs separately in order to account for unknown distribution costs? The cost of the cylinders and gas is all inclusive, this cost should be considered by the offeror when establishing their pricing.

--Do any VAMCs include delivery to Research Departments on campus/site?

VA Montana – No VA Cheyenne – No VA Eastern Colorado – Has a Research Department located on the main facility campus Research Building VA Eastern Oklahoma – No VA Oklahoma City – Has a Research Department located on the main facility campus Research Building VA Salt Lake City – Has a Research Department located on the main facility campus Research Building VA Sheridan – No --How many required points of delivery are there at each VAMC (e.g., Research, CLC)?

VA Montana – 2, at the main facility loading dock and the laboratory VA Cheyenne – 1 at the main facility warehouse VA Eastern Colorado – 1 at the main facility receiving dock VA Eastern Oklahoma – 1 at the main facility warehouse VA Oklahoma City – 2, at the main facility loading dock and the Research Building VA Salt Lake City – 2, at the main facility loading dock and the Research Building VA Sheridan – 2, at the main facility loading dock and liquid N goes to Building 71N

Q18. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS: There is no mention of insurance requirements in the RFQ. How is the GOV going to validate that offerors are properly insured for NAICS 325120/221210 – the actual requirement for this work to comply with the RFQ? How do offerors confirm to the GOV that they have the correct type of Liability Insurance, and does this need to be affirmed at the time of bid submission (if not, an awarded firm could be turned down or not be able to afford this coverage in the amounts the GOV requires, respective to NAICS 325120)?

A18. It will be reviewed as part of an offeror’s responsibility determination.

Q19. Please confirm that the offeror must comply with FDA/Code of Federal Regulations at the time of bid submission in order to meet the requirements of the Statement of Work in this RFQ (wholesale distribution of medical-grade oxygen/compressed gases with medical-grade oxygen being defined by the FDA as a prescription drug) as the bid states multiple times that the offeror must be compliant with federal, state, and local regulations to include licensing?

A19. Yes, this needs to be verified during offer evaluations in order to be able to award/start the resulting contract. Also per statement of work, throughout the term of this contract, contractor shall maintain all federal, state, and local licenses applicable to the contractor as well as any required FDA certifications.

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