36C26118Q0550-0001000.docx

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

BY

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) 640-18-4-034-0074

612MCP

Department of Veterans Affairs VA Sierra Pacific Network (VISN 21) VA Northern California HealthCare System 5342 Dudley Blvd, Bldg 209 McClellan

CA

95652-2609

612MCP

Department of Veterans Affairs Department of Veterans Affairs VA Northern California HealthCare System 3230 Peacekeeper Way, Bldg. 209 McClellan

CA

95652-1012 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C26118Q0550

X X X The purpose of this amendment is to provide responses to questions from interested vendors.

Please see questions and answers 1-12 on the following pages.

Please be sure to acknowledge this amendment with quote submission. Failure to do so may render your quote ineligible for evaluation and award.

The due date for quote submission is not extended. Please submit quotes timely. Late quotes will not be considered.

Gary T. Basile Contracting Officer

CONTINUATION PAGE

Question 1. Our understanding is that it is the contractor's responsibility to provide the required background checks. Is that correct?

Answer 1. The VA will conduct a background check on individuals working on this contract. However, the vendor should indicate if it conducts a background check for potential candidates with its quote in response to evaluation criteria for recruiting/hiring where the solicitation says, “Describe the hiring process your company utilizes before placing an employee.”

Question 2. Related to background checks, is the contracting team able to provide clarification on what level of background checks will be required, or what components must be required in the background checks? As a follow on to this, is there a preferred organization the VA would like contractors to utilize for these background checks?

Answer 2. Please be sure to take a look at the solicitation attachment S02 Security Information for Contractors. For these positions, the Government has defined the position to require NACI, Tier 1. Please see below for additional information:

PIV Card:

1.1.1.1.1. Access Requirements: Unsupervised, full-time, logical and/or physical access for more than 6 months OR more than 180 aggregate days in a one year period

1.1.1.1.2. ID Requirements: Two IDs compliant with PIV Guidelines

1.1.1.1.3. Background Investigation Requirements: Favorable SAC adjudication and scheduled investigation commensurate with risk designation for Tier 1 NACI.

Question 3. The Wage Determination amount referenced in the solicitation documentation on page 43 of the actual solicitation, does not map to the Wage Determination documentation in the associated documents attached to the solicitation. Can the contracting team please, confirm that vendor's utilize the Monetary Wage-Fringe Benefits called out in the SCA Alameda, SCA Monterey, and SCA Santa Clara documents?

Answer 3. Within 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Items, the Contracting Officer has filled in 52.222-42 Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires with the employee class of phlebotomist. This fill-in has no relation whatsoever to the SCA wage determinations. FAR 52.222-42 is the Government’s representation of what it would pay its own Government employee for that work. It is irrelevant to the SCA wage determination. It’s information only for anyone interested to know how much a Government employee would make providing the service. The vendor’s quote must be inclusive of the SCA, including the highest wage determination. Although they are in separate counties, the three locations are relatively close to one another such that the VA does not anticipate any significant price savings distinguishing between locations.

Question 4. Related to the above question, the Price Worksheet and the corresponding B.3 Price Schedule, allocate line items to address one hourly rate (with associated Holiday and Weekend hours). Is the expectation; therefore, that vendor's submit pricing compliant with the highest Wage Determination amount versus, pricing that is broken out into the three separate geographic areas covered by the SCA documentation?

Answer 4. Yes, as explained in Answer number 3.

Question 5. Is there an incumbent contract for this effort?

0. If so, will the government please provide the company name, contract number, total value, and number of years/months in place?

0. If so, will the government provide contact information for incumbent employee personnel to retain under EO 13495, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers?

Answer 5. Yes.

0. No. The required method for obtaining information about an existing contract is to file a Freedom of Information Act request. Solicitation questions are limited to the actual solicitation and current need (which may be different than the current contract).

0. Once the contract has been awarded, the Contracting Officer will provide the successor contractor a list of potentially displaced employees from the incumbent contractor. This is done after award, not before award.

Question 6. It appears that the Price worksheet would like an hourly rate based on 2080 hours for certified phlebotomists, plus additional hours for holiday and weekend. Would the government please provide a revised pricing sheet to reflect no more than 1920 hours per FTE?

Answer 6. No. The government has identified its estimated hourly need. With this type of contract, the government is only guaranteeing $1,000.00 worth of hours as the minimum guarantee. It is free to order hours up to the value of $5,000,000.00. The actual number of hours required is not something the Government can with say with certainty. Ultimately, the shifts are for full-time employees working 40 hours a week, and sometimes more depending on the needs.

Question 7. Is there a format the government prefers for the quote, including page length, volumes or sections, and submission formats (Microsoft Word or PDF?)

Answer 7. No. Just be aware of the email size limitation for submission as noted in the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 on page 56.

Question 8. Page 5, para. B.3 states a guarantee minimum award of $1K, but Page 7, para. 1.1 states up-to 5 FTE. Will these truly be FTE positions or floater positions between the 3 locations given?

a. Is there an expectation that qualified candidates will be required to work at each location, or will they be assigned one location?

Answer 8. The VA requires full-time positions with the expectation of up to five positions dependent upon its needs.

a. The positions are not floaters; however, the VA may need individuals at one location or all locations during the performance of the contract. Traditionally, the VA has only needed the positions filled in Palo Alto.

Question 9 Page 12, para. 11. - Does the estimated 8 inpatient draws an hour include transit time to/from the patient(s) and to/from the lab?

Answer 9. Yes, but it would be a reasonable amount of transit. It applies to patients on the same ward. If the ward is across campus, we wouldn't expect them to be able to meet that requirement. The PWS is written to say “an average of 8 inpatient and 10 outpatient phlebotomies per hour.” So, sometimes it may be fewer than 8 and sometimes more than 8, depending on location.

Question 10. For sick/call-out situations, does the government intend on in-processing qualified candidates (to include badging requirements) prior to the expected/unexpected need to ensure the replacement personnel are available within the specified time frames?

Answer 10. No.

Question 11. Is price going to be the most important factor?

Answer 11. This is an acquisition conducted under FAR 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Consequently, the Government has chosen to do a comparative evaluation analysis in accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3). This evaluation methodology allows the Government to consider price and non-price factors and does not require the Government to identify weights between the factors for consideration. As stated in VAAR 852.273-73 Evaluation – Health-Care Resources, the Government is not assigning weight to the factors or listing them in any particular order. With respect to price, the section further indicates that the Government will also evaluate the price to assess the vendor’s ability to attract and retain staff for the geographic area. This is not a lowest-priced technically acceptable (LPTA) evaluation process.

Question 12. If a potential candidate has signed a letter of commitment with my organization, will the Government disqualify the candidate if they have signed a letter of commitment with another organization?

Answer 12. No. If the candidate is not a current employee of the vendor submitting the quote, then the quote must include a letter of commitment signed by the prospective employee committing to work for the quoting vendor. The Government has no concern if an individual has signed a letter of commitment with different vendors, provided ultimately that individual is available to work on the resulting contract with the awardee.