36C26319R0100-0001000.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

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) 07-15-2019 618-20-1-4002-0002 36C263 Department of Veterans Affairs

NETWORK 23 CONTRACTING OFFICE

316 Robert Street N. STE. 506 St. Paul

MN

55101 Department of Veterans Affairs

NETWORK 23 CONTRACTING OFFICE

316 Robert Street N. STE. 506 St. Paul

MN

55101 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C26319R0100 07-15-2019

X

X

- one -

1. See the attached document for a list of all questions received and responses on this RFP as of 7-15-19.

2. Please note, the term "FTE" in part 2.9.2. of the PWS is hereby removed. See question 8. for details.

Charles Hurry Questions and Responses - RFP 36C26319R0100, Audiology Technicians for the Minneapolis VA Hospital

1. Is the contractor responsible for providing temporary personnel substitutions for any day of work missed, per section 2.9.3., or for three (3) consecutive work days or more missed, per section 2.9.4.2.?

2.9.3. The contractor shall be responsible for providing coverage to the VA during periods of vacancies of the contractor’s personnel due to sick leave, personal leave, vacations and additional coverage as required.

2.9.4.2. For temporary substitutions where the key person shall not be reporting to work for three (3) consecutive work days or more, the contractor shall provide a qualified replacement for the key person. The substitute shall have comparable qualifications to the key person. Any period exceeding two weeks will require the procedure as stated above.

The contractor is expected to fill all scheduled services. This includes any scheduled leave the contractor provides their employees working on this contract. The VA understands that there will be times when emergency or sick leave is needed, and we will work with the contractor on case by case basis.

This requirement is for 4160 hours and the contractor shall propose a minimum of two (2) Audiology Health Technicians. However, if the contractor needs more than two Technicians to fill the 4160 hours, they may propose as many Technicians as needed

2. Can you please clarify the qualifications the Audiology Technicians need to hold? Do the Audiology Technicians require a license?

On page 6 of the solicitation it states “QUALIFICATIONS: Personnel assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall be licensed in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia. All licenses held by the personnel working on this contract shall be full and unrestricted licenses. The qualifications of such personnel shall also be subject to review by the VA Chief of Staff and approval by the VA Facility Director. Each person assigned to work under this contract shall be properly licensed.” However, Minnesota has no license requirements for Audiology Technicians. Furthermore, on page 15 there is an additional qualifications listing that does not require a license.

Please reference section 2.1 and section 2.1.1 of the PWS specific qualifications for this position. This will list the specific requirements for this location. If a license is not required for this location, any reference to a license does not apply.

3. Can you please clarify if this requirement is for 2 FTEs or more?

The CLIN structure allows for sub-CLINs and for the Contractor to project how many hours each Audiology Technician will work but there are areas in the PWS and Solicitation that suggest we can only use 2 FTEs.

For example, page 20 states “2.9.1. The VA Full Time Equivalency (FTE) for the services required is equivalent of up to two (2.0) FTE. One FTE is defined by the VA as a person working a minimum of 80 hours every two (2) weeks and does not include holidays.”

In order to prevent an ambiguity between 2.9.1., 2.9.2 and the amount of key personnel that may work on this contract; we will be modifying the language in 2.9.2., please see below. The update language below no longer includes “FTE”.

2.9.2. The minimum number of Audiology Health Technicians required to be on site on a daily basis, Monday – Friday (excluding holidays) is two (2.0). The work schedule is defined below in Section 3 - Hours of Operation The requirement is for 4160 hours and the contractor shall propose a minimum of two (2) Audiology Health Technicians. However, if the contractor needs more than two Technicians to fill the 4160 hours, they may propose as many Technicians as needed.

4. Can you please clarify when a substitute Audiology Technician is required? Is a replacement needed if one of our Audiology calls in sick for just one day?

Page 7 of the solicitation says “For temporary substitutions where the key person will not be reporting to work for three (3) consecutive work days or more, the Contractor will provide a qualified replacement for the key person.” How does this apply to vacations? Any time a vacancy last for longer than 3 days requires a temporary replacement or permanent replacement?

The contractor is expected to fill all scheduled services. This includes any scheduled leave the contractor provides their employees working on this contract. The VA understands that there will be times when emergency or sick leave is needed, and we will work with the contractor on case by case basis.

This requirement is for 4160 hours and the contractor shall propose a minimum of two (2) Audiology Health Technicians. However, if the contractor needs more than two Technicians to fill the 4160 hours, they may propose as many Technicians as needed

5. Will we (the Contractor) be punished for not fulfilling all of the 2080 hours? 2080 hours is based on a 40 hour work week, 52 weeks per year (40 x 50 = 2080). Holidays are excluded (unless an emergency situation arises) that in itself is 80 hours that are unworkable and therefore the maximum workable hours is 2000 each. Can you confirm?

No, the contractor will not be punished in the situation described. The VA will work with the contactor to meet the requirements of the contract. The contractor is only expected to fill the services scheduled by the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.

6. Is this a new contract, or are there incumbent personnel?

This is a new contract.

7. Please confirm the Wage Determination requirement; to include providing (listing) the Wage Determination Schedule and equivalent rates?

No DOL wage rate exists for this profession.

8. Recommend the government either change the Quantity of Hours to “up to 4,180” or address the requirement to fully fill the quantity of hours. To include how the government will validate pricing assuming all 2080 hours is priced. Employees—according to the wage determination requirement—will work approximately 1,864 hours per year when you consider Federal Holidays, Vacation, and up to 56-hours of Sick Leave. The amount of Sick Leave is very much so the variable that is generally taken in less than 3-day increments. We believe the government wants the full 2080 hours filled per employee with a Temporary Substitute provided for missing hours (per PWS2.9.4).

In order to prevent an ambiguity between 2.9.1., 2.9.2 and the amount of key personnel that may work on this contract; we will be modifying the language in 2.9.2., please see below. The update language below no longer includes “FTE”.

2.9.2. The minimum number of Audiology Health Technicians required to be on site on a daily basis, Monday – Friday (excluding holidays) is two (2.0). The work schedule is defined below in Section 3 - Hours of Operation.

9. We further recommend the government address the definition of a Full Time Equivalent employee which does not meet current contracting requirements (per Executive Order (EO) 13706 regarding Paid Sick Leave) or Wage Determination statutes. This statement is important given the QASP of 100% and linkages to CPARS.

We do not intend to change the VA’s definition of an FTE. However, we will be modifying 2.9.2. to remove the requirement of two (2) FTE on this contract.

10. Please confirm that Training—as listed in PWS 2.1.6—is provide by the VA at no cost to the contractor.

The training listed under 2.1.6. is provided by the VA at no cost to the contractor.

11. Please confirm an understanding that the statement, “Any day specifically declared to be a national holiday” does not meet the Federal Holiday listing as established in the Wage Determination Schedule. Thus, employees will only receive holiday pay for those listed with the Department of Labor. We recommend the “Any day…” be deleted and the situation handled on case-by-case basis (such as the National Day of Mourning).

We do not intend to change the VA’s definition of a National Holiday as listed in this RFP. This list and definition is intended to provided potential contractors with a list of days in which the VA does not intend to schedule services, except in the case of an emergency.

12. We recommend addressing Vacation and Sick Leave requirements within the Performance Requirement of “100% qualified personnel are available and in location as needed and properly performing tasks specified in PWS” as listed in PWS 4.5. This ties back to the Wage Determination nd EO 13706 authorization questions and statements.

We will be modifying 2.9.2. to remove the requirement of two (2) FTE on this contract. The contractor may provide more than two (2) key personnel if needed.

13. Please confirm the need for Medical Liability Insurance versus Professional Liability Insurance. PWS 5.0 states the requirement for Professional Liability Insurance whereas PWS 6.1.1 states the need for Medical Liability Insurance, whereas solicitation C.11 requires Medical Liability Insurance. Professional versus Medical Liability insurance are two different types of insurance at different ends of the scale for costs. We recommend the government be very exact in their stated insurance requirements as it will absolutely affect pricing. To include, please confirm the need for Medical Liability Insurance given we are talking about Technicians versus Health Providers.

Both Professional and Medical Liability Insurance are required.

14. We recommend that PWS 6.4 and PWS 6.4.1 be deleted as it is not applicable. Or adjust PWS 4.5 and PWS 6.1.1 with the exact language. To include PWS 6.4.1 disagrees with PWS 6.4 regarding monetary deductions.

We do not intend to make a change to this language.

15. Please confirm the Government will accept 1 x Temporary Substitute for background investigations, training, and PIV issuance as part of the overall team of 2 x FTE Audiology Health Technician team.

We will be modifying 2.9.2. to remove the requirement of two (2) FTE on this contract. The contractor may provide more than two (2) key personnel if needed.

16. E.2 Proposal Submittal Instructions, Addenda to 52.212-1 Proposal Preparation Instructions, Specific Instructions – 2. PAST PERFORMANCE, should this be “PART 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE”?

Yes it could, however, the lack of the term “PART 2” does not alter the specific instructions under E.3 Proposal Submittal Instructions. Please note, all instructions in E.2 apply.

17. E.2 Proposal Submittal Instructions, Addenda to 52.212-1 Proposal Preparation Instructions, Specific Instructions, 4. PRICE PROPOSAL, (c) “Complete the necessary fill-ins and certifications in the Contract Clauses section. Representations and Instructions section shall be returned in its entirety. For Description/Specifications through Contract Clauses sections, the offeror shall submit only the pages that require a fill-in.”

a. If we have completed our SAM registration, as in “E.9 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2018) The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (u) of this provision.” Are we required to return this section in it’s entirety or is a screen shot of our SAM registration sufficient?

You may submit a screen shot of your SAM registration. This would be sufficient.

b. What is meant by “For Description/Specifications through Contract Clauses sections, the offeror shall submit only the pages that require a fill-in.”

This refers to the pages in Sections A, B, and C of the RFP (Request of Proposal) that are required to be filled in. (Pages that do not require the vendor to fill in data are not required to be submitted along with your proposal, however, you may submit them if it is more convenient for you to do so.)

18. Are we required to submit copies of all amendments or can we just acknowledge receipt of amendments in the table provided in the Contract Administration section?

All amendments to the Solicitation must be signed.

19. Is there an incumbent on this contract? If so, who is the incumbent?

There is no current contract for these services. This is a new requirement.

20. If there is an incumbent are these positions currently filled?

N/A – This is a new requirement.

21. Thanks. Say, we are trying real hard to find qualified candidates who will work the hours. Did you have an issue on the last 6-month contract…if you can tell me.

This will be a new contract. Its not a follow-on to any previous contract.

22. I have a question about the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation posted to FBO under solicitation number 36C26319R0100.

I am hoping to find out if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing these services, if similar services have been performed in the past, or if this is a new requirement. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the contract or task order number?

This is a new requirement.

23. I am hoping to find out if the subject effort is a new requirement or a follow-on to an existing contract? If the latter, can I please find out the incumbent contractor's name and contract number? I appreciate your time and help.

This is a new requirement.