AMENDMENT #2 8.28.26.pdf

This is Amendment #2 to an Invitation for Bids (IFB No. 2026-01, RFx #3160008187) issued by the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration for the establishment of a Preapproved Vendor List (PVL) for professional nursing services. The amendment clarifies the relationship between the prior Professional Nursing Services PVL (IFB 2022-04), which expired on July 22, 2026, and the current bid solicitation. The prior PVL is no longer available for new contracts or modifications to existing vendor placements; vendors seeking approval for additional service categories, regions, or classifications must submit bids under the new IFB No. 2026-01. The PVL mechanism allows state agencies to contract with pre-selected vendors for one or more of five nursing service categories—Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, and Personal Care Attendants—across eight geographic regions within Mississippi. Amendment #2 extends the bid submission deadline to September 14, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. CDT, with the Notice of Intent to Award anticipated on October 29, 2026. The new PVL becomes effective December 2, 2026, and remains active through November 30, 2031, with vendors able to enter new contracts between December 2, 2026, and November 30, 2029, and with agency options to extend through November 30, 2031.

Vendors must submit fixed hourly rates across five pricing categories—Standard Hourly Rate (weekday), Weekend Hourly Rate, Holiday Hourly Rate, Hazard Pay Hourly Rate, and Travel Nurse Hourly Rate (optional)—that remain firm for the full five-year PVL term. Award determinations use a mathematical formula whereby all vendors whose average bid price for each service category within each region does not exceed 125 percent of the mean average bid price are placed on the PVL, allowing multiple vendors per category and region to be awarded. Vendors must meet eligibility requirements including a minimum of two years in business, placement of at least 40 nursing staff within the past two years, submission of two letters of recommendation, proof of current Mississippi business registration, and maintenance of an office in each region for which they bid. Selected vendors must maintain comprehensive general liability insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence, workers' compensation insurance, and employee dishonesty insurance with minimum limits of $100,000, and personnel must be drug-free, available 24/7 within two hours of request, and hold current background checks, tuberculosis testing, CPR certification, required vaccinations, and contracting-agency-specified orientation training.