ESBD_375246_1725398052571_RPF 2024-09-001 Full-Service Dental Lab Services.docx

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Central Texas Community Health Centers d/b/a CommUnityCare

2115 Kramer Lane, Suite 100 Austin, TX 78758 512-978-9148

For

Full-Service Dental Lab Services

RFP 2024-09-001

Issue Date

September 3, 2024

RFP Summary:

Central Texas Community Health Centers d/b/a CommUnityCare (“CommUnityCare”) is requesting Proposals from qualified Dental Labs for a full-service contract.

NOTICE TO BIDDER

Request for Proposal

RFP Start Date: 9/3/24

RFP Submittal Due by Date: 10/3/24 @ 2:00pm CST

No Email Proposals will be accepted.

One original Proposal, 5 copies (Optional) and 1 electronic copy (USB Drive) must be delivered to the following location:

Full-Service Dental Lab Services Attn: Director of Procurement 2115 Kramer Lane Austin, TX 78758

Please include a return address label

By 2:00pm CENTRAL TIME, Thursday, 10/3/24

Responses received at the designated location after the published time and date will not be considered.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT

III. PROPOSAL FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION

IV. EVALUATION

V. EVALUATION FACTORS

A. MANDATORY SPECIFICATIONS

ATTACHMENTS:

K. Prior Performance Evaluation…………………………………………………...57 L. Equipment List………………………………………………………………………….58 M. Site Locations……………………………………………………………………………59

I. KEY RFP INFORMATION

A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

CommUnityCare has 32 plus site locations that are equipped with medical devices. The Joint Commission and Health and Human Services Commission requires medical devices to be inspected on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis and before the equipment is placed in operational service before initial use or relocated to a new site location. CommUnityCare requires vendor assistance to perform the inspection, provide repairs and consulting of over 3000 medical devices in accordance with The Joint Commission and CMS.

B. SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT

The scope of procurement shall encompass the defined Scope of Work, detailed in Attachment A and Cost Proposal Worksheet, Attachment B of this RFP. The term of the agreement resulting from this RFP is anticipated to be for three (3) years with two (2) optional renewal periods pursuant to funding availability and satisfactory service provision, as determined by CommUnityCare.

C. DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT

CommUnityCare has designated the Director of Procurement responsible for the conduct of this request on behalf of CommUnityCare and whose name and e-mail address are listed below.

Chad Roberts chad.roberts@communitycaretx.org

All deliveries (including Proposal delivery) should be addressed to the Director of Procurement at the address located on the Notice to Bidder page. Please also include a return address, with company name and address, on the outside of the proposal package.

Any inquiries or requests regarding this RFP should be submitted to the Director of Procurement as identified above. Respondents may ONLY contact the Director of Procurement regarding this RFP. Respondents should not contact individual CommUnityCare Board of Managers, the CommUnityCare President and CEO, or CommUnityCare staff regarding this RFP. Such contact may result in disqualification of the entity initiating the contact.

D. DEFINITION OF RFP TERMINOLOGY

This section contains definitions and abbreviations that are used throughout this procurement document.

"BidNet Direct Website" is the following link: https://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas/centraltexascommunityhealthcentersdbacommunitycare

“Central Health” means the Travis County Healthcare District d/b/a Central Health.

"CUC" means Central Texas Community Health Centers d/b/a CommUnityCare (“CommUnityCare”)

"CommUnityCare Website" is the following link: http://communitycaretx.org/

"Close of Business" means 5:00 PM Central Time

"Contract" means a written agreement for the procurement of items of tangible personal property or services.

“Contract Owner” is individual most familiar with the operational needs of a contract and develops the scope of work or service.

"Contractor" means a successful Respondent who enters into a binding contract.

"Determination" means the written documentation of a decision by the Director of Procurement including findings of fact supporting a decision. A determination becomes part of the procurement file.

"Desirable" means that the terms “may,” “can,” “should”, “preferably,” or “prefers” identify a desirable or discretionary item or factor (as opposed to “mandatory”).

"ESBD" means Electronic State Business Daily is at the following link:

http://www.https://checkout.na1.netsuite.com/c.852252/MyAccount/index.ssp?n=2&ext=F#/esbd. Agency Member name is Central Texas Community Health Center.

"Evaluation Committee" means a body appointed by CommUnityCare management to perform the evaluation of Proposals.

"Evaluation Tabulation Report" means a document prepared by the Director of Procurement and the Evaluation Committee for submission to the CommUnityCare Board the Directors or CEO for contract award. It contains all written determinations resulting from the procurement

"Finalist" is defined as a Respondent who meets all the mandatory specifications of this Solicitation and whose score on evaluation factors is sufficiently high to merit further consideration by the Evaluation Committee.

"Mandatory" means that the terms “must,” “shall,” “will,” “is required,” or “are required,” identify a mandatory item or factor (as opposed to “desirable”). Failure to meet a mandatory item or factor will result in the rejection of the Respondents Proposal.

"Respondent" is any person, corporation, or partnership who submits a Proposal.

"Director of Procurement," is the person or designee authorized by CommUnityCare to manage or administer this RFP requiring the evaluation of the Proposals.

"Request for Proposal" or “RFP” means all documents, including those attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.

"Responsible Respondents" means Respondents who submits a responsive proposal and who has furnished, when required, information and data to prove that his financial resources, production or service facilities, personnel, service reputation, and experience are adequate to make satisfactory delivery of the services or items of tangible personal property described in the proposal.

"Responsive Offer" or “Responsive Proposal” means an offer or proposal, which conforms in all material respects to the requirements outlined in the Request for Proposal. A responsible Respondent is one that is trustworthy and possesses the necessary quality, fitness, and capacity to satisfactorily, perform the proposed work.

E. COMMUNITYCARE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This section provides background on CommUnityCare, and the operating environment of CommUnityCare, which may be helpful to the Respondents in preparing the RFP. The information is provided as an overview and is not intended to be a complete and exhaustive description.

Goals and Objectives

The physicians and staff at CommUnityCare are committed to providing quality care in a friendly, caring and efficient environment. We believe all patients have a right to have their cultural, psychological, spiritual, and personal values, beliefs and preferences respected. We are committed to service excellence.

Overview of CommUnityCare

Central Texas Community Health Centers d/b/a “CommUnityCare” is a 501(c)(3) a non-profit organization provides healthcare services to underinsured and uninsured residents of Travis County. CommUnityCare was formerly a department of the City of Austin, transitioning to a nonprofit status on March 1, 2009. Today, CommUnityCare provides services at 35 locations in Travis and surrounding Counties. Each year, our health centers provide approximately 344,000 medical and dental patient appointments. This number represents more than 96,000 individual patients. CommUnityCare provides outpatient primary healthcare, dental care, limited specialty care, lab services, and radiology including mammography, a full-service pharmacy, and behavioral health services. We also provide HIV/AIDS treatment at our David Powell Clinic, and care for the homeless with a location at the ARCH, along with Street Medicine teams that go out in the community to provide primary care to the homeless. These services are provided to all Travis County residents including those whose incomes and lack of private health insurance qualify them for enrollment. Two (2) of our locations, Hancock and William Cannon, were designed to expand access by providing walk-in services to patients in our system. These clinics offer extended hours and weekend care. Many of our providers speak several languages and we also utilize a telephone medical translation service for less common foreign languages. That means we serve patients from all over the world and understand their language.

Approximately 50% of CommUnityCare’s funding comes from the Travis County Healthcare District d/b/a Central Health and a local hospital system that funds care for qualifying uninsured patients. CommUnityCare receives some federal, other public, and private grant funds as well as billing Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance. In 2010 CommUnityCare was accredited by The Joint Commission, a world leader in evaluating the quality and safety of care delivered at healthcare networks across the World and was re-accredited in 2016.

For purposes of this RFP, the following data is given to be helpful in preparing the responses. The information is provided as an overview and is not intended to be a complete and exhaustive patient statistical data information.

Overview of the Central Health

Travis County Healthcare District d/b/a Central Health was founded in 2004 as a limited-purpose taxing district. It is responsible for providing healthcare to indigent persons residing in Travis County. At that time, funding and oversight for the Community Health Center system was under the City of Austin before it was transferred to Central Health. In 2009, the Community Health Center system became a private, non-profit corporation named CommUnityCare. It currently operates with an annual budget of approximately $85 million and serves about 96,000 patients.

Visit us online at http://www.communitycaretx.org/ and http://www.centralhealth.net/

II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT

This section of the RFP contains the schedule for the procurement, describes the major procurement events and the conditions governing the procurement.

The Director of Procurement will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:

A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Respondents, who received notification of this solicitation by means other than through CommUnityCare mailing, are requested to contact the Director of Procurement herein to request to be added to the vendor list. Inclusion on the vendor list is the only way to ensure timely notification of any addenda and/or information that may be issued prior to the solicitation Proposal date. IT IS THE RESPONDENTS SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THEY RECEIVE ANY AND ALL ADDENDA FOR THIS RFP by either informing CommUnityCare of their email contact information or by regularly checking the ESBD or BidNet Direct websites as listed in the Definitions section above. Addenda will be posted on the website the day they are released.

B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS

The following paragraphs describe the activities listed in the sequence of events shown in Section II, Paragraph A.

1. Issue of RFP

This RFP is being issued by CommUnityCare.

2. Pre-Proposal Meeting, Optional

Pre-Proposal Meeting will not be scheduled for this RFP.

3. Deadline to Submit Written Questions

Potential Respondents may submit additional written questions as to the intent or clarity of this RFP until the close of business referenced in the Notice to Bidder section above. All written questions must be submitted via e-mail to the Director of Procurement (See Section I, Paragraph C).

4. Response to Written Questions/RFP Addendum

Written responses to written questions and any RFP addendums will be distributed by close of business referenced on the Notice to Bidder section above, via BidNet Direct, ESBD and e-Mail (providing Respondents requested to be added to the bid vendor list) as defined in Section II, Paragraph A; Sequence of Events.

Additional written requests for clarification of distributed answers and/or amendments must be received by the Director of Procurement no later than two (2) days after the answers and/or amendments were issued.

5. Submission of Proposal

THE DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT OR DESIGNEE MUST RECEIVE ALL RESPONDENT PROPOSALS FOR REVIEW AND EVALUATION NO LATER THAN 2:00PM CENTRAL TIME ON RFP Submittal Due Date. Proposals received after this deadline will not be accepted. The date and time of receipt will be recorded on each proposal. The proposals must be addressed and delivered to the Director of Procurement at the address as indicated on the Notice to Bidder Page.

Proposals must be sealed and labeled on the outside of the package and clearly indicate that they are in response to the RFP 2024-09-001 Biomedical Equipment Maintenance, Repair and Consulting Service. Proposals submitted by facsimile or other electronic means will not be accepted.

All Respondents are expected to carefully, examine the RFP documents. Any ambiguities or inconsistencies should be brought to the attention of the Director of Procurement (Section I, Paragraph C). It is CommUnityCare’s intent that all information necessary to complete a proposal is included in this RFP. It is the responsibility of the Respondents to obtain clarification of any information contained herein that is not fully understood. CommUnityCare is responsible for interpretation of the wording of this RFP. Its staff will not give verbal answers to inquiries regarding the RFP contents. Any verbal statement regarding the RFP prior to the award shall be considered non-binding. The only formal interpretation of the RFP will be made by RFP addendum issued by the Director of Procurement. A copy of such addendum will be posted on BidNet Direct and ESBD.

A log will be kept of the names of all respondent’s organizations that submitted proposals. The contents of any proposal shall not be disclosed to competing Respondents prior to contract award.

6. Proposal Evaluation

An evaluation committee appointed by CommUnityCare management will perform the evaluation of proposals. The Director of Procurement may initiate discussions with Respondents who submit responsive or potentially responsive proposals for the purpose of clarifying aspects of the proposals, but proposals may be accepted and evaluated without such discussion. Discussions SHALL NOT be initiated by the Respondents.

7. Selection of Finalists

The evaluation committee will evaluate and score written Proposal statements using the evaluation criteria identified in Section V. Based on the scoring, the Evaluation Committee will determine which Respondents will advance as finalists.

Note: CommUnityCare expects that no more than three (3) Respondents will advance to become finalists and that only finalists will be invited to participate in the steps below.

Step 1. Interview. Based on the results of the Evaluation Committee scoring and process as outlined above under the “Selection of Finalists” section, two or three Respondents will be invited to demonstrate their product. The Director of Procurement will schedule the time for each Respondents’ interview. The interview will be held at CommUnityCare location as indicated in the Notice to Bidder Section above. In order to ensure efficient understanding of product, the interview may be a three (3) hour process or longer. Due to the busy schedule of CommUnityCare’s stakeholders, Respondents will be expected to adhere to a pre-determined agenda as developed by CommUnityCare and as provided to Finalist when the interview is scheduled.

Step 2. Best and Final Offers from Finalists. Finalists may be asked to submit revisions to their proposals for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. The Best and Final Offer, if requested, will be the basis for the final determination of contract award. Any best and final offer, as well as the entire submittal, will become part of the contract.

8. Contract Award

Respondents are reminded that this is a negotiated procurement and, as such, an award will not necessarily be made to the Respondents submitting the lowest-priced Proposal. If an award is made as a result of this RFP, that award will be made to the Respondent or Responders submitting the best responsive proposal that satisfies CommUnityCare’s requirements and provides the best overall value to CommUnityCare over the life of the contract, as determined by CommUnityCare in its sole discretion.

C. GENERAL RFP REQUIREMENTS

1. Acceptance of Conditions Governing the Procurement. Respondents must indicate their acceptance of the Conditions Governing the Procurement in the letter of transmittal.

2. Incurring Cost. Any cost incurred by the Respondent in preparation, transmittal, presentation of any Proposal or material submitted for this RFP shall be borne solely by the Respondent.

3. Prime Contractor Responsibility. Any contract that may result from this RFP shall specify that the prime contractor is solely responsible for fulfillment of the contract with CommUnityCare. CommUnityCare will make contract payments to only the prime contractor.

4. Subcontractors. Use of subcontractors must be clearly explained in the Proposal, and major subcontractors must be identified by name on Attachment E, HUB Form. The prime contractor shall be wholly responsible for the entire performance whether or not subcontractors are used.

5. Amended Proposals. Respondents may submit an amended proposal before the deadline for receipt of proposals. Such amended proposals must be a complete replacement for a previously submitted proposal and must be clearly identified as such in the transmittal letter. CommUnityCare personnel will not merge, collate, or assemble proposal materials.

6. Respondents Rights to Withdraw Proposal. Respondents will be allowed to withdraw their proposals at any time prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals. The Respondents must submit a written withdrawal request signed by the Respondents duly authorized representative addressed to the Director of Procurement.

The approval or denial of withdrawal requests received after the deadline for receipt of the proposals is governed by the applicable procurement regulations.

7. Proposal Offer Firm. Proposals to this RFP, including proposal prices, will be considered firm for ninety (90) days after the proposal submittal due date.

8. Disclosure of Proposal Contents. It is CommUnityCare's intention that proposals will be kept confidential until a contract is awarded. At that time, all proposals and documents pertaining to the proposals may be presumed to be public information under the Texas Public Information Act unless the Office of the Attorney General determines otherwise. The Director of Procurement will not disclose or make public any pages of a proposal on which the Respondent has stamped or imprinted “proprietary” or “confidential” unless required to by law or regulation.

· Proprietary or confidential data as identified by the Respondents must be readily separable from the proposal in order to facilitate eventual public inspection of the other portions of the proposal. The price of products offered, or the cost of services proposed shall not be designated as proprietary or confidential information.

9. Negotiations. The Director of Procurement or designee shall participate in all negotiations. Discussions may be conducted with responsible Respondents who submit proposals to the RFP and who is determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. Those Respondents will be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals. Respondents may be required to submit additional data and/or clarify previously submitted information during the process of any negotiations. Revisions and supplements to Respondents proposal may also be permitted after submission and before award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. Any best and final offer, as well as the entire submitted proposal, will become part of the awarded contract.

· CommUnityCare reserves the right to negotiate the price and any other term with any, all, or none of the Respondents. Any oral negotiations must be confirmed in writing prior to an award.

10. Termination. This RFP may be canceled at any time and any and all Proposals may be rejected in whole or in part when CommUnityCare determines such action to be in the best interest of CommUnityCare.

11. Sufficient Appropriation. Any contract awarded as a result of this RFP process may be terminated if sufficient appropriations or authorizations do not exist. Such termination will be affected by sending written notice to the contractor. CommUnityCare's decision as to whether there is sufficient appropriations and authorizations will be accepted by the contractor as final.

12. Legal Review. CommUnityCare requires that all Respondents agree to be bound by the General Requirements contained in this RFP. Any Respondent’s concerns must be promptly brought to the attention of the Director of Procurement.

13. Basis for Proposal. Only information supplied by CommUnityCare in writing through the Director of Procurement or in this RFP should be used as the basis for the preparation of Respondent’s Proposals. Any entity, by and through the submission of a Proposal, understands verbal communication regarding the RFP is not binding and communication either verbal or written to CommUnityCare Staff or Members of the Board prior to the award, their Proposal will be disqualified.

14. Contract Terms and Conditions. The contract between CommUnityCare and Contractor will follow the specified format and contain the same or similar terms and conditions as those contained in Attachment H, entitled the General Terms and Conditions. CommUnityCare reserves the right to negotiate with the successful Respondent any contract provisions, in addition to those contained in this RFP.

15. Contract Deviations. Any additional terms and conditions, which may be the subject of negotiation, will be discussed only between CommUnityCare and the selected Respondents and shall not be deemed an opportunity to amend the Respondent’s proposal. Any requests for deviations must be made in the Proposal and, where appropriate, the Contractor should suggest alternative contract language. Contracts must also provide a brief discussion of the purpose and impact, if any, of each proposed change.

CommUnityCare may accept the alternative language at its sole discretion. Extensive revisions to the proposed contract language may be considered non-responsive and grounds for disqualification. General references to the Contractor’s terms and conditions or attempts at complete substitutions are unacceptable to CommUnityCare and may result in disqualification of the Contractor’s Proposal.

16. Respondents Terms and Conditions. Respondents must submit with the proposal a complete set of additional terms and conditions, which they expect to have included in a contract negotiated with CommUnityCare. Respondents must document additional terms and conditions in the required transmittal letter.

17. Respondents Qualifications. The Evaluation Committee may make such investigations as necessary to determine the ability of the Respondents to adhere to the requirements specified within this RFP. The Evaluation Committee will reject the Proposal of any Respondent who is not a responsible Respondent or fails to submit a responsive offer.

18. Right to Waive Minor Irregularities. The Evaluation Committee reserves the right to waive minor irregularities. The Evaluation Committee also reserves the right to waive mandatory requirements provided that all of the otherwise responsive Proposals failed to meet the mandatory requirements and/or doing so does not otherwise materially affect the procurement. This right is at the sole discretion of the Evaluation Committee.

19. Change in Contractor Representatives. CommUnityCare reserves the right to require a change in contractor representatives if the assigned representative is not, in the opinion of CommUnityCare, meeting its needs adequately.

20. CommUnityCare Rights.

· Reject any or all proposals and discontinue the RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent;

· waive any defect, irregularity or informality in any proposal;

· accept a proposal other than the lowest-price proposal;

· award a contract on the basis of initial proposal received without discussions or requests for best and final offers;

· request best and final offers from any or all respondents;

· accept proposals from one or more entity;

· procure the services in whole or in part by other means;

· award more than one contract or;

· not award any contract.

21. Right to Publish. Throughout the duration of this procurement process and contract term, potential Respondents, and Contractors must secure from CommUnityCare written approval prior to the release of any information that pertains to the potential work or activities covered by this procurement or the subsequent contract. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in disqualification of the Respondents proposal or termination of the contract.

22. Ownership of Proposals. All documents submitted in response to this RFP shall become the property of CommUnityCare.

23. Electronic mail address (Required). A large part of the communication regarding this procurement will be conducted by electronic mail (e-mail). Respondents must have a valid e-mail address to receive correspondence from CommUnityCare.

24. Use of Electronic Versions of this RFP. This RFP is being made available by electronic means. If accepted by such means, the Respondent acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to ensure that no changes are made to the RFP. In the event of conflict between a version of the RFP in the Respondents’ possession and the version maintained by CommUnityCare, the version maintained by CommUnityCare shall govern.

25. Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Program and Good Faith Effort. It is CommUnityCare’s policy that HUBs have the maximum opportunity to participate in the performance of CommUnityCare contracts and subcontracts. Respondents shall make a "good faith effort" to take all necessary and reasonable steps to ensure that HUBs have the maximum opportunity to participate as subcontractors, see Attachment E, HUB form.

To be eligible under this program, HUB contractors and subcontractors must be certified as a HUB, M/WBE, or DBE source by a recognized governmental program, such as:

· City of Austin Municipal Government;

· Texas Unified Certification Program; or

· The state of Texas.

Any entity identified as a HUB (as either a prime or subcontractor) shall submit a copy of its certification with its proposal. CommUnityCare reserves the right to verify any entity's HUB status prior to contract award.

26. Suspension and Debarment Requirement. The Respondent shall certify, by signing the Acknowledgement of Receipt form, attached hereto as Attachment C that to the best of its knowledge and belief that the Respondents and/or its Principals are not or have not been debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment or declared ineligible for the award of contracts by any Federal, state or local departments.

27. Conflict-of-Interest Questionnaire. Pursuant to CommUnityCare’s Conflict of Interest Policy, no individual at CommUnityCare may enter into any employment, transaction, or other arrangement that may cause to be perceived to cause a conflict of interest. A potential for a conflict of interest may occur when an employee, or a member of an employee’s family, holds an interest in an entity or has an employment or other financial arrangement with any business or entity that conducts or seeks to conduct business or could be in competition, directly or indirectly with CommUnityCare. The acceptance of gifts or business courtesies from any third parties with whom CommUnityCare conducts business or who are seeking to do business with CommUnityCare may pose a conflict. Respondents must complete, sign and return the Conflict of Interest Questionnaire, Attachment G.

III. PROPOSAL FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION, MANDATORY

This section describes the format and organization of the Respondents' Proposal. Failure to conform to these specifications may result in the disqualification of the Proposal.

A. NUMBER OF PROPOSALS

1. Respondents shall submit only one (1) proposal.

B. NUMBER OF COPIES

1. Respondents shall deliver to CommUnityCare at the location specified in the Notice to Bidder Section on the closing date and time for receipt of Proposals, the following:

· one (1) original copy of their Proposal and supporting technical and/or sample documentation;

· five (5) identical copies of their Proposal (Optional);

· five (5) copies of supporting technical and/or sample documentation (optional); and

· one (1) electronic identical copy of the Proposal on a USB drive

C. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

All areas enumerated below must be addressed. Any questions or section left unanswered shall constitute failure to respond and make the proposal incomplete, and the proposal shall not be considered.

1. Proposal Organization.

a) Letter of Transmittal;

b) Table of Contents;

c) Proposal Summary (optional);

d) Response to Mandatory Specifications;

e) Cost Proposal Worksheet, Attachment B;

f) Required Certificates and License, if any; and

g) Attachments:

· C - Completed and Signed Acknowledgement of Receipt Form

· D - Completed Certificate of Secretary if Respondents is a Corporation

· E - Completed HUB Form

· F – Vendor Confidentiality Agreement

· G - Completed and Signed Conflict of Interest

· J - Respondent References Form

· K - Prior Performance Evaluation

· Supplemental supporting material (optional)

· The Proposal must be typewritten and placed within a binder with tabs delineating each section.

· The Proposal summary may be included by Respondents to provide the Evaluation Committee with an overview of the technical and business features of the Proposal; however, this material will not be used in the evaluation process unless specifically referenced from other portions of the Respondents' Proposal.

· Respondents may attach other materials that they feel may improve the quality of their responses. However, these materials should be included as items in a separate appendix.

2. Letter of Transmittal.

A letter of transmittal must accompany each proposal and contain the following information:

a) Identify the submitting organization;

b) Identify the name and title of the person authorized by the organization to contractually obligate the organization;

c) Identify the name, title and telephone number of the person authorized to negotiate the contract on behalf of the organization;

d) Identify the names, titles and telephone numbers of persons to be contacted for clarification;

e) Explicitly indicate acceptance of the Conditions Governing the Procurement stated in Section II, Paragraph C.1;

f) Be signed by the person authorized to contractually obligate the organization; and

g) Acknowledge receipt of any and all amendments to this RFP.

3. Corporate References.

Respondents must provide three (3) external client references from clients for whom the Respondent has provided services of the same nature and type as those outlined in this solicitation and Scope of Work (see Attachment J). References submitted must be for services provided in the past two (2) years from the date of this solicitation. If the Respondent has provided services to CommUnityCare during this timeframe, one of the references may be from CommUnityCare Contract Owner. The minimum information that must be provided about each reference is:

a) Name of individual or company services were provided for

b) Mailing Address of individual or company

c) Name of contact person

d) Telephone number of contact person

e) Type of services provided, and dates services were provided

f) Current e-mail address of the contact person

CommUnityCare reserves the right to utilize the letters of reference in determining whether a Respondent is a responsible Contractor/Supplier.

4. Required Certificates and License

a) Respondents must provide a current copy of all required regulatory certifications and licenses.

5. Financial Information.

· CommUnityCare reserves the right to ask the Respondent for a copy of the Respondents’ Financial Statement including the latest Balance Sheet and Income Statement showing assets, liabilities and retained earnings.

· When asked, Respondents must provide a letter from an authorized person who can contractually obligate the organization validating the Financial Statement.

· When asked, provide the name, address and contact phone number for your bonding company and Agent and provide a letter from your Surety or Agent stating that your firm is bondable for this contract based on the budget and the timeframe stated herein.

IV. EVALUATION

A. Evaluation Process

The evaluation process will follow the steps listed below:

1. Respondent Proposals will be reviewed for compliance of the mandatory requirements stated within the RFP. Proposals deemed non-responsive will be eliminated from further consideration.

2. The Director of Procurement may contact the Respondents for clarification of the Proposal as specified in Section I Paragraph B.

3. The Evaluation Committee may use other sources of information to perform the evaluation as identified in Section I, Paragraph B.

4. Responsive proposals will be evaluated on the factors in the Mandatory Specifications, Section V, Paragraph A that have been assigned a point value. The responsive and responsible Respondent’s proposal with the highest scores will be selected as finalist. Finalist may be placed on a “short list” and invited to present their proposals to the Evaluation Committee. Points awarded from the interviews will be evaluated and scored separately. The responsible Respondents whose proposal is most advantageous to CommUnityCare, taking into consideration the evaluation factors in Section V, will be recommended for contract award as specified in Section II, Paragraph B. Respondents, who are asked, or choose to submit a revised proposal for the purpose of obtaining best and final offer, will have their points recalculated accordingly. Please note, however, that a serious deficiency in the Proposal to any one factor may be grounds for rejection regardless of overall score.

B. EVALUATION RATING

1. Criteria Factors. The following is a summary of evaluation factors with percentage weight value assigned to each. These, along with the general requirements, will be used in the evaluation of Respondent’s proposals.

E. Interview Yes

V. EVALUATION FACTORS

Respondents should respond in the form of a thorough narrative to each mandatory specification. The narratives along with required supporting materials will be evaluated and awarded percentages accordingly.

Failure to respond to Mandatory Specifications will result in the disqualification of the proposal as non-responsive.

A. MANDATORY SPECIFICATIONS

General Company, Contractor and Key Staff Experience (20%)

CommUnityCare is interested in knowing more about Respondent’s company, corporate experience and account staffing. Bidders should respond to the following:

1. CUC is interested in the Bidder’s team organizational structure. Bidder should identify the account leadership, reporting responsibilities, how the prime firm will interface with CUC’s Staff and/or other Contracted Vendors.

2. Identify if the prime firm will subcontract any part of this services as defined in Attachment A. What part of the service will be subcontracted and how will the subcontractor interface with CUC’s staff.

3. Describe your company’s experience with providing dental laboratory services.

4. Describe your hiring practice (drug screening, background check, driving record, etc.).

5. Bidder should include an organization chart and brief narrative. The narrative should include activities, responsibilities and key personnel proposed to interact with CommUnityCare’s Dental site locations. Bidders should also include key personnel who may be sub-contractors.

6. CUC is interested in the Contractors’ Key staff, management team and technicians experience level performing tasks as outlined in the Scope of Work.

7. Bidders are required to identify the management team (including sub-contractors), their account or assignment roles and experience in the assigned roles. Bidders must include professional resumes (no more than two (2) pages each) of each key personnel proposed to perform services under this contract. The resumes should demonstrate the experience and expertise of the proposed staff and include their history and success of accounts similar to the scoped work. Bidder should list three (3) accounts meeting these criteria that have been completed in the past twenty-four (24) months for each key personnel.

Comparable Contracts Experience and Past Performances (20%)

1. Account History. CommUnityCare is interest in the Bidder’s history and success with contracts of similar scope and budget as described in this RFP. List three (3) contracts meeting these criteria that have been completed in the past five (5) years. Include the comparable services that relate to those listed in the Scope of Work, a brief narrative describing the account and the Bidders role in the account. All three of the accounts must be with healthcare entities. Bidders are asked to identify, if any, those entities that are certified by The Joint Commission.

2. Corporate References. Bidders must provide three (3) letters of references as indicated on Attachment J, Bidder References, from clients for whom the bidder has provided services of the same nature and type as those outlined in this solicitation. References submitted must be for services provided in the past two (2) years from the date of this solicitation. If the bidder has provided services to CommUnityCare during this timeframe, one of the references must be from CommUnityCare Contract Manager. The letters of references must contain sufficient information (i.e., specific times and locations where the bidder was observed while providing services) in order to verify the bidder’s experience. In the case of letters not composed by CommUnityCare Contract Managers, each letter must be composed by someone who had direct experience with the provision of services outlined in the letter. Each letter of reference must address each of the following:

3. Bidder’s responsiveness to requests for services; and

4. Bidder’s ability to provide services as compared to their agreed upon contract; and

5. The client’s overall assessment of the bidder’s performance.

6. To prove the submitted letter have been completed by the appropriate party, each letter must also:

a. Provide the name, address, title, company, phone number and email address of the qualifying employer/company; and

b. Be submitted on the employer/company’s official letterhead; and

c. Contain an original signature by the completing party; and

d. Type of services provided and dates services were provided.

7. CommUnityCare reserves the right to utilize these letters of reference in determining whether a bidder is a responsible supplier.

8. Customer Service. Bidders are asked to describe the Organization’s customer service program and philosophy in handling and resolving quality concerns and staff difficulties.

9. Performance Evaluation Surveys (MANDATORY). Proposers will be required to send out Performance Evaluation Surveys to five (5) of their clients not listed in the Reference Section, 3.b.

10. Please provide your client with the Performance Evaluation Letter and Survey Attachment. Please request that your client submit the completed survey to the Director of Procurement, at (e-mail) chad.roberts@communitycaretx.org. Please stress the surveys must be completed and returned to the Director of Procurement by September 3rd, 2024. Surveys not received by the Director of Procurement by or before the date specified above may cause the bidders proposal to be classified as not responsive causing the bid submission to be disqualified.

11. Proposers are solely responsible for ensuring their clients return the Performance Evaluation Surveys to CommUnityCare. CommUnityCare reserves the right to verify any information submitted in this process. Such verification may include, but is not limited to, speaking with current and former clients, review of relevant client documentation, site-visitation, and other independent confirmation of data. CommUnityCare WILL NOT ACCEPT CLIENT SURVEYS SENT TO THE PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PROPOSER. SURVEYS MUST BE SENT TO THE PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT DIRECTLY FROM YOUR CLIENT’S OFFICE.

Quality Control (30%)

1. Security - CommUnityCare is interested in the hiring practices, i.e. screening, background checks, etc. used to ensure that staff who will interact with the site locations meet the security requirements outlined in the RFP.

2. Training – Bidder is asked to describe in detail the training provided to the Contracted Staff that ensures the services outlined in the Scope of Work is met. Include certification requirements.

3. Control Program – The Bidder is required to describe in detail the quality control program used by their organization. Bidders should include the inspections types, frequency and process. Bidders are requested to include samples of forms and checklist used in the inspection process.

4. Safety - Provide copies of safety policy and procedures and Safety Record.

5. Infection Control for final deliverables. Please provide standard procedure or description of process for final deliverables such as partials and dentures.

Price (30%)

CommUnityCare is interested in cost for Dental Laboratory appliances and dentures as well as the process of creating these items, i.e., digitally, manually and what the costs would be for each. CommUnityCare is also interested in a full list of dental laboratory services for future expansion of services.

1. Respondents are required to complete Attachment B, tab A the pricing Sheet to indicate their most competitive rates.

Interview (TBD)

2. If selected as a finalist, Respondents agree to provide the Evaluation Committee the opportunity to interview proposed staff members identified by the Evaluation Committee in the finalist notification letter at the interview.

ATTACHMENT A

Scope of Work

Context

Community Care Health Centers (CUC), a system of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), in Austin, Texas, currently provides a limited scope of dental services to its patients. CUC has been considered a “limited dental practice” with respect to its scope of general dentistry services. There are several procedures/services that we continue to refer to external partners. Full Dentures is one of those services. In a traditional dental practice model, the general dentist will diagnose and consult with a patient regarding full mouth dentures. Pending any extractions or alveoloplasty required, an impression is taken and sent to a lab, dentures are fabricated, a “try-in” appointment is conducted, and any adjustments or re-lines are noted and sent back to the lab if required or as needed. A final “seat” appointment is conducted, and the patient receives their dentures. Our patient population is a risk for these procedures as this traditional process takes 3 appointments (sometimes more if something doesn’t fit and adjustments need to be made). Because of this, patients have been approved for and sent Denture Referral Letters to our current external partner, as they can provide same day dentures, however, they have stated that they are not utilizing same day services at this time.

Due to this barrier of the process, the number of our patients who need dentures is growing and the backlog of patients has increased in the past few months.

Goals

Community Care is looking to partner with multiple dental laboratory vendors in order to better serve the community and aspires to become the Travis County Safety Net Provider of Choice for Dentures and Partials.

Deliverables

· Provide a usual and customary fee schedule that will meet the needs of Community Care as it is a non-profit FQHC.

· Provide quality dentures and partials for patients that seek care at CUC in a timely manner.

· Utilize the latest technology to ensure timeliness, quality, and well-fitting dentures and/or partials for the patients CUC serves.

· Provide a digital scanning system and/or 3-D Printing capabilities to deliver care timely and efficiently.

· Provide training to RDAs, RDHs, and Dentists at CUC in collaboration with manufacturers of the equipment to be used in the clinics.

· Create an efficient process from start to finish, in collaboration with CUC’s Dentists, for the patients.

· Provide and Honor the usual and customary warranty that would be afforded to any other dental office partner.

· Provide what kind of volume that the laboratory could handle on a weekly or monthly basis. We estimate around 40-60 per month of volume present day with a backlog of 381 patients in the que currently (October 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024).

· Assist CUC with establishing a referral process that will integrate with its EMR system and track the number of cases throughout the process.

A.

ATTACHMENT B

Pricing

Please provide a full fee schedule for services and products.

Be specific about what types of equipment is used to fabricate dentures: 3-D printing, traditional method.

Provide information about what type of scanner is utilized (scanner or digital scanner). Also indicate whether or not the scanning equipment will be offered to CommUnityCare and at what cost.

ATTACHMENT C

Acknowledgment of Receipt Form

NOTE: RESPONDENT SHALL COMPLETE AND RETURN THIS ATTACHMENT (all pages) WITH THEIR PROPOSAL. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF THE PROPOSAL.

By signature hereon, the Respondent certifies that:

· All statements and information prepared and submitted in response to this Request for Information are current, complete and accurate.

· He/she has not given, offered to give, nor intends to give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a CommUnityCare in connection with the submitted response. Failure to sign the Acknowledgement of Receipt Form or signing it with a false statement shall disqualify the Proposal.

· Neither the Respondent or the firm, corporation, partnership, or institution represented by the Respondent or anyone acting for such firm, corporation, or institution has violated the antitrust laws of this State, codified in Section 15.01, et seq., Texas Business and Commerce Code, or the Federal antitrust laws, nor communicated directly or indirectly the Offer made to any competitor or any other person engaged in such line of business.

· Respondent agrees that any payments due under this Contract will be applied towards any debt, including but not limited to delinquent taxes and child support that is owed to the State of Texas.

· Respondent represents and warrants that the individual signing this Execution of Offer is authorized to sign this document on behalf of the Respondent and to bind the Respondent under any Contract resulting from this Offer.

· Suspension, Debarment, and Terrorism: Respondent certifies that the bidding entity and its principals are eligible to participate in this transaction and have not been subjected to suspension, debarment, or similar ineligibility determined by any federal, state or local governmental entity and that Respondent is in compliance with the State of Texas statutes and rules relating to procurement and that Respondent is not listed on the federal government’s terrorism watch list as described in Executive Order 13224. Entities ineligible for federal procurement are listed at http://www.epls.gov.

ATTACHMENT C continued Acknowledgment of Receipt Form

In acknowledgment of receipt of this Request for Submittal, the undersigned agrees that he/she has received a complete copy, beginning with the title page and table of…