36C77620D0006 - Redacted JA.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification and Approval (J&A)

For

Other Than Full and Open Competition (>SAT)

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C776-20-AP-2712

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Program Contracting Activity

Central (PCAC), 212 3rd Avenue South Suite 29, Minneapolis, MN 55401

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: The purpose of this justification is to request a sole source firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery indefinite quantity contract for six months with Praxair LLC, owner of the medical gas cylinders and medical gas manufacturing currently supplying the facilities listed in attachment B for VISN’s 15 and

16, This procurement is for medical gases and specialty gases in accordance with FAR

13.501(a) Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic being declared a national emergency, facilities have set restrictions, thus will not allow any transition and/or reconciliation of tanks. Current restrictions have been placed by

VA facilities to only allow essential personnel access in certain locations of VA hospitals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also placed restrictions

(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html) in regards on how supplies are delivered and social distancing guidelines during COVID-19. Contractors currently are not allowed to deliver medical tanks inside of certain facilities and drop-off only at loading docks and storage areas. Praxair Distribution, INC is current owner of the medical gas cylinders and medical gas manufacturing currently supplying the facilities listed in attachment B for VISN’s 15 and 16. The sole-source single award Indefinite Delivery – Indefinite Quantity contract will be awarded as a firm-fixed price six-month contract. We currently have three solicitations; 36C77620Q0041, 36C77620Q0046, 36C77620Q0055 posted as an SDVOSB Set-Aside and will utilize the outcome from these solicitations once the facilities are able to facilitate the transition process and the minimum guarantee is meet from this sole source award.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs:

3.1 Medical Gases will include various size tanks, refill and demurrage and will include but is not limited to: Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Argon, Helium, Liquid Nitrogen, Various configurations of Lung Diffusion, Compressed Air, Nitrogen & Nitrogen Gaseous, and

Nitrous Oxide. Specific medical gas descriptions will be listed in the Schedule of Items.

In addition, there are specific laws and regulations currently in place for providing transporting, handling, and storing items that will be included in this procurement which the potential contractor shall be aware of and adhere to during the performance of the contract.

3.2 Medical Gases is ordered by and delivered to the individual ordering facilities. The list of facilities and information regarding their unique delivery requirements is included in the solicitation schedule. The contractor shall deliver medical gases within the time frame specified in the schedule for each facility. The time frame identified may be either the number of calendar days after receipt of the Government’s order, the specific days of the week for delivery, the specific time intervals between deliveries, a specified reorder point, or other specified ordering and delivery methods. If the time frame for contractor https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html delivery is not identified in the facility requirements, the contractor must provide 48-hour notice prior to delivery or upon mutual agreement between the facility and contractor.

3.3 All medical gases under the contract must be medical-grade and shall meet or exceed the standards cited in the current edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia/National

Formulary (U.S.P.). Contractor shall be registered with the FDA; and all medical gases shall be manufactured, processed, packed, transported, and stored according to the FDA’s

Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations and Title 21, Code of Federal

Regulations, parts 210, 211, and 201 for labeling. All products, equipment and services provided under this contract shall be in compliance with all applicable Federal, State and

Local regulations.

3.4 Medical Gases and Specialty gasses are a critical requirement for the VA Medical

Centers. The purpose of this contractual action is to maintain a continuous source of supply of medical gases and specialty gases for the facilities in VISN’s 15, and 16 impacted by the national emergency. At each of the facilities, the medical gas and specialty gas cylinders are owned by Praxair LLC. which also manufactures the medical gases and specialty gases. The requirement will be for Praxair LLC to deliver medical gas and specialty gas cylinders, refill the larger medical and specialty gas tanks and the rental of cylinders in the facilities in VISN 15 and 16. The total estimated award is

$430,000.00. The ordering period will be 26 June 2020 – 25 December 2020.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition:

FAR13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items: The authority for applying the Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items of FAR 13.5 is 41 U.S.C. 1901 and is implemented for restricting competition on this procurement via FAR 13.106-1(b)(2).

5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the

Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority):

At each of the facilities, most of the medical gas and specialty gas cylinders are owned by

Praxair LLC. Praxair LLC also manufactures the medical gases and specialty gases. The time it takes to transition over to a new contractor, the incumbent subcontractor/supplier is the only source that can provide the required medical gases without a disrupting this critical supply due to the declared national emergency and facility restrictions to transition at this time. During the transition if there is a change of supplier, the medical gas cylinders are removed from the facility and the new contractor’s cylinders are delivered and dispersed throughout the medical centers campus. Some of these medical gases are currently installed in crash carts, surgical suites, patients’ beds and in the operation of surgical and laboratory equipment. Any interruption in supply has the potential to interrupt all aspects of patient care to the Veterans receiving care at the medical centers located within VISN’s 15 and 16.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: As stated above, we currently have three solicitations;

36C77620Q0041, 36C77620Q0046, 36C77620Q0055 posted as an SDVOSB Set-Aside and will utilize the resulting contracts once the facilities are able to facilitate the transition process and the minimum guarantee is met from this sole source award. When the facility restrictions are lifted and we are able to transition and meet the minimum requirements, the government will utilize the resulting long-term contracts from the solicitations listed above.

7. Determination by the CO that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and

Reasonable: Price reasonableness will be established based on a comparison of current

Government contracts, past contracts for medical gases, and the independent government cost estimate.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the

Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: Market research does support a competitive marketplace for this type of product. However, due to COVID-19 and the restrictions placed by medical facilities, this will not allow the Government to procure this product on a competitive basis at this time due to the national pandemic. The requirement is a supply contract, and thus NAICS code 325120, Industrial Gas Manufacturing with a size standard of 1,000 employees will be used. The resulting contract will be an Indefinite

Delivery-Indefinite Quantity supply contract vehicle; this allows requesting facilities the ability to place orders immediately, resulting in continuous flow of supply and provide the

Government time to competitively award the three solicitations currently posted.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: N/A.

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: N/A.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any

Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: A sole source bridge contract is required with the intention of transitioning to long-term contracts resulting from soliciations 36C77620Q0041, 36C77620Q0046, 36C77620Q0055 once restrictions are removed from the VA Medical facilities to transition medical gases. Market research confirms the commerciality of the product being requested.

12. 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 and belief.

Tanya Kuza Date

Program Manager

Midwest Consortium

13. Approvals in accordance with the VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP:

a. Contracting Officer or Designee’s Certification (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Christopher Wynn Date

Contracting Officer

Program Contracting Activity Central

Strategic Sourcing – Minneapolis, MN http://vaww.pclo.infoshare.va.gov/PMWeb/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx

b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over SAT but not exceeding

$700K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Paris Everson Date

Supervisory Contract Specialist

Program Contracting Activity Central

Strategic Sourcing – Minneapolis, MN