Solicitation_Questions_and_Responses_Revised_16_Oct_2013.docx

SOLICITATION FA7000-13-R-0023

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

*****As of 3 October 2013****

Question 1. May we assume that Parts, I, II and III of our proposal response are to be submitted as three separate volumes.

Answer 1. Yes, 52.212-1 Addendum, Instruction to Offerors Paragraph 4, under General Instructions states the response shall consists of three (3) separate parts.

Question 2. When a joint venture is responding, will you accept past performance from the JV partners or only from the JV itself?

Answer 2. Yes, 52.212-2, Evaluation Paragraph 1.B. states the evaluation of past performance information will take into account past performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or subcontractors that will perform major aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the acquisition.

Question 3. How long have the incumbent contractors been on the job? This information is needed to take into consideration the amount of paid annual leave.

Answer 3. PACU RNs—11/15/11, 10/01/10 and 03/14/13; Operating Room RN—09/29/11; Case Managers—05/16/05 and 05/13/13, Utilization Manager RNs—3 FTEs job sharing—07/06/11, 07/24/12 and 05/06/13

Question 4. Do you only need financial reference (attachment 4) for the prime or prime and subcontractors?

Answer 4. Prime only.

Question 5. Request for applicable Wage Determination for Service Contract Act employees Answer 5. Wage Determination 2005-2079, Rev 14, dated 06/19/2013 applies to this contract for employees classified as SCA employees

Question 6. Would you provide any performance related intelligence regarding how satisfied is the USAF Academy with the incumbent contractors for this effort?

Answer 6. The Government assumes you are asking for performance information on the incumbent contractor’s employees. Performance information will not be provided at this time.

Please note FAR 52.222-17 is included in the solicitation and applies to any employee classified as a Service Contract Act employee. In accordance with this clause, the Contracting Officer will provide the incumbent contractors’ employees to the successor contractor after contract award.

****As of 4 October 2013******

Question 7. Is there a limit of 30 pages to include the Past Performance Surveys that will be submitted by references (sub para b)? Or, is the 30 page limit for the sub para a. Quality and Satisfaction Rating… Section?

Answer 7. The maximum number of 30 pages includes both sub para a and b. However, it does not include the past performance questionnaires.

Question 8. How many incumbent Radiologists are under current contract support?

Answer 8. There are current 4 incumbent Radiologists.

Question 9. Does the Government anticipate a proposal deadline extension for both the Past Performance Questionnaires and Solicitation FA7000-13-R-0023 due to the Government shutdown?

Answer 9. It is likely there will be an extension but as of today, 4 Oct 13, we are not able to make the determination on how long of an extension would be justified.

*****As of 07 October 2013****

Addendum to Question 9—based on the fact most DoD Civilians are back to work today, the solicitation and past performance questionnaires due date will not be extended.

Question 10. Regarding the definition of relevancy, in order for contracts to be relevant does the type/complexity have to specifically include experience providing Radiologists, Case Managers, Utilization Review Nurses, Orthopedic Surgical Technicians, and RNs?

Answer 10. Relevant contracts will be similar in scope and magnitude and therefore would not have to be the exact combination of health care workers to be determined relevant.

Question 11. PACU Work Schedule—What percentage of time will the PACU RNs work the day shift (0600-1430) vs. the swing shift (1100-1930)?

Answer 11. According to the MTF, 15% of the time.

Question 12. Operating Room Registered Nurse, (Gapfill) – Can you please define what is mean by Gapfill? Is this a FTE position or an intermittent coverage only position?

Answer 12. Gapfill means that this position is on the MTF’s books as an Active Duty position. The Air force cannot provide an active duty RN, therefore we are contracting the position.

Question 13. There are 8,328 hours listed for the CLIN. The CLIN also indicates that this should be 5 FTEs. However, 8,328 is greater than 5 FTEs. Should this be 8000 instead or is it the Government’s intent that this CLIN exceed 5 FTEs for the base period.

Answer 13. Five FTEs would have been 9640 hours for 12 months (1928 hours each) but the base year will be 10 months instead of 12 months, so two months of the hours were removed for the base year period only.

*****As of 8 October 2013****

Question 14. If a joint venture is not registered in SAM, but two partner firms are, is it adequate to represent the two partner firms in Part III(a) of our proposal response?

Answer 14. The Prime contractor is required to be registered in SAM. The Reps and Certs need to either be completed in SAM or if not then the offeror shall complete the hard copy FAR 52.212-3 and its Alt I and return with proposal submission.

Question 15. Regarding “Subcontractor Consent” in Part III(d), does a joint venture need to provide a letter of consent for the release of past performance from each partner?

Question 15. Yes.

*****As of 10 October 2013*****

Question 16. For Part III-Contract documentation-representation and certification—Can you please provide us specific submittal instructions as to the number of copies you need for this part of the proposal.

Answer 16. Please submit only one (1) copy of Part III.

Question 17. PWS 5.2.3, Have the potential call back hours “which are to be paid at the regular hourly rate radiologist has to report to the MTF been included in the total hours represented in CLINs 0009, 1009, 2009, 3009, and 4009?

Answer 17. Yes, these potential hours have been included in the above CLINs.

Question 18. The solicitation states that proposals must be hand carried to the Contracting Squadron. Are proposals delivered by a mail courier such as FedEx, CHL, etc considered “hand delivered?”

Answer 18. Please see Paragraph 1 of 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors. Proposals may be delivered by any means other than fax or e-mail. If you choose to hand carry the proposal it must be delivered to the 10th Contracting Squadron Building 8110, Industrial Drive, Suite 200, United States Air Force Academy.

********PLEASE NOTE: COB 11 OCT IS THE LAST DAY FOR QUESTIONS*******

As of 16 October 2013

Question 19. Does the 8(a) prime contractor have the flexibility in hiring an employee on a 1099 basis as opposed to a W2? We respectfully request that the Government add clauses to the work statement allowing contractors the flexibility to hire contract staff as independent contractors if appropriate (1099 or W2).

Answer 19. It is totally up to the prime contractor how they hire the employees. Just remember 51 percent of the work has to be performed by the prime contractor’s employees.

Question 20. Is the 1928 billable hours amount accurate? The standard billable hours for a full time employee working a 12-month period of performance with PTO and Holiday is 1920 hours.

Answer 20. Yes, 1928 billable hours is accurate. A normal FY year is 1920 hours, but if you look at the calendar and count the number of work days available from 1 Oct 13 to 30 Sep 14 we actually have 1928 hours; this is of course minus the 80 hours for PTO and Federal Holidays.

Question 21. The CLIN indicates 8,328 regular hours, 1,247 week day on-call hours and 1,482 weekend on-call hours per radiologist. Is the accurate for a ten-month base period?

Answer 21. Yes

Question 22. Section 5(a) of the Proposal Preparation Instructions indicates that the offeror should complete blocks 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the SF1449. Since there are multiple CLINS in pricing schedule, will it be sufficient to complete the quantity, unit, unit price and amounts in the Pricing Schedule and leave blocks 21, 22, 23 and 24 blank? If no, how do you want the information to be presented on the SF1449.

Answer 22. Yes, it is ok to leave blocks 21, 22, 23 and 24 blank and use the Pricing Schedule.

Question 23. For the Diagnostic Radiologist on-call hours, what is the average number of VPN reads for week night and weekend on-call per FTE? May we please get an average number of VPN reads that AD performs on week night and week end on-call? This information is critical when pricing the on-call for these FTEs.

Answer 23. At the current time, we do not provide VPN reads and all reads are performed in house. The volume of studies read on call depends on the needs of the Air Force.

Question 24. Referencing Page #14, Paragraph 1.4.2.1 of the PWS, please advise if a RN license from any U.S. jurisdiction is acceptable or if only a license from the CO Compact State License program is acceptable for this requirement.

Answer 24. Only a license from the CO Compact State License program is acceptable.

Question 25. Page #13, Paragraph 1.3.1 of the PWS indicates the RN can be assigned to work at an alternate location in the event that there aren’t any patients in the Ambulatory Surgical Unit. Alternate work locations identified are the 10th Medical Group Ambulatory Surgical Unit, Cadet Wing (In-processing/Basic Cadet Training), Penrose or Memorial Hospitals, and Evans Army Community Hospital. The paragraph also includes the statement “or their employer will determine how or if they will receive reimbursement for this time”. Can you please clarify this statement? Is this statement referring to “if” the employee is not required to work at an alternate location and therefore, has no work hours?

Answer 25. The only location we have used in the past is the Cadet In-processing on USAFA. If the 10 MDG cannot perform surgery due to long term facility problems, then going to EVAN’s would be a possibility. Going to Memorial or Penrose would be considered if EVANS was unavailable.

Question 26. Referencing Page #17, Paragraph 2.2.1 of the PWS, please confirm that this position (Orthopedic Surgery Technician) is for 40 hours per week unless overtime is required or a Federal Holiday (non-work) is applicable.

Answer 26. Yes, this position is 40 hours per week unless overtime is required. They will never be required to work on a Federal Holiday.

Question 27. Referencing Page #20, Paragraph 3.5.1 of the PWS, please confirm that this position (Case Managers) is for 40 hours per week unless overtime is required or a Federal Holiday (non-work) is applicable.

Answer 27. Yes, this position is 40 hours per week unless overtime is required. They will never be required to work on a Federal Holiday.

Question 28. Referencing Page #20, Paragraph 3.5.2 of the PWS, please advise if overtime is applicable for the RN Case Manager position.

Answer 28. Yes we have 80 hours of overtime for the Case manager positions should they require it.

Question 29. Page #21, Paragraph 3.7.2 of the PWS references both RN and Social Worker educational requirements. Please confirm that both RN’s and Social Workers can be utilized to fill the requirements. Also, this paragraph indicates that the Social Worker can only be licensed in Colorado. Is this correct or can they hold a license in any U.S. jurisdiction?

Answer 29. The PWS will be amended. Page 21, Paragraph 3.7.2 will no longer state any Social Worker language. The entire last sentence of this paragraph will be removed.

Question 30. Referencing Page #21, Paragraph 3.7.3.2 and 3.7.3.3 of the PWS, please advise if the Case Management certification is “required” or “desired”.

Answer 30. "Desired"

Question 31. Page #21, Paragraph 3.8 of the PWS references 3 years Med/Surg and 1 year of Case Management experience for a RN Case Manager but does not indicate what experience is required for the Social Worker. Can you please clarify what experience is required for the Social Worker?

Answer 31. A Social Worker is not required.

Question 32. Referencing Page #24 , Paragraph 4.2.2 of the PWS, please advise if overtime is applicable for the RN Utilization Manager.

Answer 32. Yes we have 80 hours of overtime for the UM RN positions should they require it.

Question 33. Page #28, 5.2.1 of the PWS indicates Radiologists are required to work “up to” 40 hours per week. Please advise what the minimum number of hours guaranteed is each week excluding on-call.

Answer 33. There is no minimum.