36C26324Q1111_1.docx

SUBJECT*

Slide Staining System - BH

GENERAL INFORMATION

NETWORK 23 CONTRACTING OFFICE

1303 5th St Suite 300 Coralville IA 52241

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contract Specialist Robert Bennett robert.bennett8@va.gov 319-339-7079

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

113 Comanche Road

Fort Meade SD

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

Sources Sought Notice Sources Sought Notice

DESCRIPTION

Sources Sought Notice

Statement of Work Black Hills Veterans Health Care System Stat Slide Gram Stainer Lab Introduction

Purchase a new Slide Stainer. The Fort Meade VAMC has a requirement to purchase one Slide Stainer with an authorized vendor to supply and deliver the item. This requirement is in support of a brand name or equal requirement. See FAR Clause 52.211-6 – Brand Name or Equal (AUG 1999) for additional information. The Brand Name or Equal product is bioMerieux Previ Color Gram 12 automated Gram staining system.

General Conditions Site Address Ft Meade Lab 113Comanche RD

FM, SD 57747

Ft Meade Lab 113Comanche RD

FM, SD

57741

Schedule and Order Management The above delivery schedule is based upon the current construction schedule, which is subject to change. The vendor shall not increase prices for a change in delivery date for up to 90 days due to construction delays.

The awardees actual delivery dates will be confirmed by VA upon award.

Post-award the vendor will coordinate delivery prior to beginning any work (see section 2.4). Once the dates have been confirmed, modifications to the schedule are subject to written approval by the VA POC. Schedule changes that are beyond the dates specified in the contract will require approval by the Contracting Officer and a contract modification.

Delivery and Receiving Delivery and receipt of the proposed items is anticipated to be directed to the location identified below. Confirmation of delivery location will be provided by the VA POC post-award. Delivery must be coordinated with VA Logistics POC Wesley Walker (Office); 605-720-7452 or Emily Apland (Office) 605-720-7427 prior to any attempts at delivery. Any item that has not been coordinated will be turned away and any additional charges will be the responsibility of the sender/transportation company. Vendor responsible for conducting a site visit to verify logistics and loading dock access/egress.

Fort Meade: Lab 113 Comanche Rd

FM, SD 57741

Delivery shall be freight on board (FOB) – Destination.

The vendor is required to define the need for a staging area to accommodate item delivery, if needed. Post-award, this information will be confirmed with the vendor.

The delivery of items identified in this document shall take place during normal business hours which are defined as: 0800 to 1630 (i.e.: 8:00am to 4:30pm Mountain Time), Monday through Friday, and excluding Federal Holidays.

Delivery trucks will not be permitted to remain at the loading dock. Trucks shall be unloaded by the vendor, moved from the dock, and then brought back to the dock if required to haul out any waste, tools, or excess materials.

Labeling of delivered items shall include the awarded contract number and VA purchase order number for identification and reference upon receipt of product.

Delivery includes:

Offloading the equipment from the truck, moving the equipment to the correct delivery location in the space. Equipment paperwork & warranty information must be handed to the approved government contact onsite.

Use of Warehouse-Not applicable direct delivery to the new facility Clean Up and Disposal There are no dumpsters available for vendor use.

The removal of waste and/or excess material shall be conducted through the loading dock area. Delivery trucks and/or other vendor vehicles will not be permitted to remain at the loading dock. Vehicles will need to be brought back to the dock if required to remove any waste, tools, or excess materials.

Deliverables:

Assembly and Installation [ ☐ is ☒ is not ] required.

Training [ ☐ is ☒ is not required] Standard Warranty The products shall be covered by vendor’s standard warranty terms and provisions. Vendors to provide their standard warranty information in their quotes. It should be noted however that the warranty coverage shall be no less than 1 YEAR.

The warranty period set forth therein shall be for one year following delivery of the product and approval by the VA POC at the Hot Springs VHA, 500 N. 5th, BLD 12 room 405 Hot Springs, SD 57747.

The vendor shall extend such warranty directly to the customer as if such customer had purchased the Products directly from the manufacturer.

The vendor shall warrant the products against defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service, repair or replace at vendor’s cost any defective Product (or issue a credit or refund, as the case may be, based on the purchase price paid therefor); and The vendor shall pay (or refund the amount of) all freight and shipping charges for any defective Products returned under this paragraph.

Use of Premises If during the performance of this contract, work will be carried out on VA Hot Springs premises, the vendor shall perform all work in such a manner that will cause a minimum interference with VA Hot Springs operations and the operations of other contractors on the premises.

The vendor shall communicate through the VA POC any required coordination requirements with the General Construction contractor (GC) prior to and during delivery and installation activities.

The project may be an active construction site during delivery and installation. The vendor shall take all necessary precautions to protect the premises and all persons and property therein from damage or injury. The vendor shall assume responsibility for taking precautions for the vendor's (and associated subcontractors’) employees, agents, licensees, and permittees. The vendor shall abide by any safety requirements imposed by the GC (e.g., hard hats, safety vests).

The vendors shall abide by all rules and regulations set forth by the CDC & the VA Hot Springs due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and have their own personal protective equipment (PPE) in use for the time they are on the GLA campus grounds.

Automated GRAM Slide Stainer with a capacity of 1-12 prepared slides. Stains with the aqueous based solutions providing medical quality stain fields for easy cell identification. High pressure atomizing spray reagent application for consistent slide making for all samples.

1-12 slide capacity Rotor Speed- 100-2000 rpm Countertop size: 22” x 10” x 27”

100 VAC

Built in safety features such as a locking lid during use

Specifications

· A microprocessor-controlled slide staining system featuring a rapid staining cycle and high-throughput capability

· 5-minute processing cycle Onboard tracking software for reagent management and control Sealed touch screen interface for programing and management control

· Programming can be user defined 100-2000rpm

· Aqueous GRAM stain

· RAPID STAINING KINETICS: Blood smears are fixed, stained, and dried in about 4 minutes.

Only fresh stain contacts specimens to avoid cross-contamination or contact with used reagents0 Reagents are applied from atomizing spray nozzles onto the slides for even and clean field for analysis.

IMPROVED STAIN STABILITY: The slow rate of decomposition of thiazin and eosin dyes in separate neutral aqueous solutions allows a long shelf life. Since changes in the stains occur very slowly, staining results are highly reproducible and consistent.

Slide carousel capacity is 1 to 12 slides; rotor speed is 100-2000 rpm (± 5%), user programmable provides consistent staining of all samples.

CLEAR FIELDS: Since there is virtually no stain precipitation or debris, slides are exceptionally clean.

· Already in use at Ft Meade facility provides for sharing of reagents.

· All reagents are already assigned IM # since device is in use at Ft Meade.

· Lid must be closed for operation, and is locked down during carousel rotation for safety

· Reagent and waste level detection

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

Before responding please carefully read and consider the following:

Slide Stainer for the Black Hills VA Medical System. This is a Sources Sought Announcement Only and no solicitation is currently available. Responses will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. After a review of the responses to this Sources Sought Notice, a solicitation announcement may be posted. A response to this Sources Sought Notice is not an adequate reply to a potentially forthcoming solicitation.

All information contained in this Sources Sought Announcement is preliminary, as well as subject to modification, and is in no way binding on the Government. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this request. Furthermore, the Government reserves the right to cancel this requirement at its discretion. The information requested will be used solely within the Department of Veterans Affairs to facilitate decision making and will not be disclosed outside of the Government. The determination of a procurement strategy, based upon the comments submitted in response to this Sources Sought Announcement, is solely within the discretion of the Government.

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, size standard is 1,000 employees. NOTE: Please ensure that the System for Award Management (SAM) indicates this NAICS code if you are interested in the requirement.

As this is a service acquisition, the Small Business Administration and the Federal Acquisition Regulation have Limitations on Subcontracting requirement. For all small businesses, to include SDVOSB and VOSB, “At least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern.” See FAR 52.219-14 and FAR 52.219-27 available in full text at https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52

Description of Services

· See attached Statement of Work

Only firms seriously interested and truly capable should send their information and/or capability statement and any questions by email to robert.bennett8@va.gov no later than 1:00 PM Central Time, August 21, 2024.