Fargo VA Patient Assistance Parking SOW Revised 5 Mar 2026.docx

Title: Patient Assisted Parking Services

General Overview: The Fargo VA Health Care System (Fargo VAHCS) requires Patient Assisted Parking Services for the main facility at 2101 Elm Street North, Fargo ND 58102. This service will mitigate parking issues experienced at this facility. This is firm-fixed pricing.

Definitions or Acronyms

Patient Assisted Parking: Attendants greet Veterans, take possession of keys and vehicle, and park the vehicle in the assigned parking area(s). Once the owner of the vehicle returns, the attendant retrieves the vehicle from the parking space and delivers the vehicle to the owner at the front of the facility.

Contractor: Where referenced in this solicitation, "Contractor" refers to the Patient Assisted parking service contractor.

Veterans: Includes all Veterans/Beneficiaries, inpatient and outpatient.

CO: Contracting Officer COR/COTR: Contracting Officer's Representative/Contracting Officer Technical Representative VA: Department of Veterans Affairs Fargo VA HCS: Fargo VA Health Care System AOD: Administrative Officer of the Day FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulations VAAR: VA Acquisition Regulations

Place of Performance: The services will be performed at the Fargo VA HCS located at 2101 Elm Street North, Fargo ND 58102.

Period of Performance:

This will be a single award Firm Fixed Priced Contract for overall period of performance of August 1, 2026 to July 31, 2031. There will be one (1) base year and up to four (4) option years for this contract:

Year Period Begins Period Ends

Exercise of option years will be made at Government’s discretion based on continued need for services, Contractor performance, and availability of funds in a given fiscal year.

Equipment List:

Contractor shall furnish all required supplies, materials, personnel, signage, and any necessary equipment required to perform the services.

The Contractor will provide a locking key cabinet(s), three (3) part claim check, safety cones, operation supplies, and other miscellaneous items necessary to facility Patient Assisted parking; all to be located in the contractor provided Patient Assisted booths.

The Contractor will furnish and install all signs and supplies required for operations, for example: three (3)- way claim check, two (2)- way radios if needed to communicate between its own personnel. The Contractor will provide a walkie-talkie (or similar device) to be used for communication between the Contractor and the VA Police Department. Contractor shall furnish any other communication devices necessary to communicate between their own personnel, as well as, one for the VA Police to allow the police to monitor activity as required. Contractor shall also provide all cones, operational supplies or other miscellaneous items necessary to facilitate Patient Assisted parking. All such supplies shall be approved by the mission partner prior to commencement of services.

The Contractor shall provide required signs that will clearly identify the purpose of the services for the VA patients. Signs shall be easy to read and look professional. Hand-written signs are not allowed. The mission partner must approve signs prior to posting for use. The Patient Assisted parking signs shall be set-up each morning of operation and removed at the end of the day. A "NO TIPPING" sign will be furnished and installed by the Contractor. No tipping will be strictly enforced. Contractor's employees are restricted from accepting tips of any kind.

The government will work with the contractor to establish a designated area for the contractor at the front of the facility for the Patient Assisted parking operation. The VA will provide a table, chairs and podium if requested or needed.

The government will provide one 20 amp 110 V receptacle.

The government will provide one Telephone Connection with an extension to the Fargo VA Hospital with no outbound call capability beyond the internal Fargo VA Telephone Network.

The Contractor shall not have access to the Fargo VA Information Technology System or its network.

The Contractor shall provide uniforms and nametags to include uniform outerwear to all personnel working under this contract. Uniforms shall facilitate easy identification of Contractor employees by employee name and company name. Uniforms will be worn at all times during performance of contract duties. All uniforms must be in good taste and condition showing no exposed cleavage or mid-drift. Contractor employees must be professional in appearance. The mission partner will approve Contractor uniforms submittal prior to the contractor beginning work. The mission partner will also notify the contractor if personnel's wear of the uniform is deemed inappropriate in anyway.

The government will not reimburse the contractor for supplies, PPE, or uniforms.

Scope of Work Patient Assisted parking has not existed at the Fargo VA hospital. Therefore, there is no daily average number of Patient Assisted parked vehicles in previous years. The contractor will provide sufficient staff for coverage during hours of operation, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays and any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a Federal Holiday.

The Contractor shall staff the Patient Assisted parking operation with as many employees as needed to ensure an efficient operation. An efficient operation is defined as, no patient waits more than 10 minutes to have their vehicle be Patient Assisted parked or returned to the drop off/pick-up location, in accordance with the requirements identified in the statement of work. The Contracting Officer (CO) or Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) will make periodic unannounced inspections to assure that the Contractor is in compliance with the maximum waiting period. Any increase in the number of Patient Assisted parking personnel necessary to meet the requirement is the sole responsibility of the contractor and shall be at no additional cost to the Government. The VA will make every effort to notify the Contractor in advance of any special events that might increase the number of visitors to the Medical Center and cause parking difficulties.

Federal Holidays observed by the Fargo VA Medical Center include: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, June Nineteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus/Native American/Indigenous People) Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, or any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as a legal holiday by U.S. Government agencies. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be observed as a legal holiday by U.S. Government agencies.

The Contractor shall provide up to eight (8) hours per month for special event Patient Assisted parking service outside normal operating hours, to possibly include weekends and holidays, as directed by the VA. The number of events shall not exceed 12 events per year.

Special events may occur on Federal Holidays and the contractor may be required to provide limited hours of operation for these events. The CO will notify the contractor at least two weeks prior to any required additional hours for a special event. The VA will provide the contractor with the anticipated number of vehicles expected during the event.

Locations of parking spaces for Patient Assisted parking use will be identified by the facility and the number of spaces be dependent on the average number of vehicles parked for the previous period of service. Primary parking lots to be utilized will be the lots identified on the attached VA Patient Assisted Parking Map. Vehicles may be parked in any configuration to allow for maximum usage of the parking lot as determined by the contractor.

Patient Assisted parking services is limited to Veteran patients and/or their driver only. Visitors will be directed to by Patient Assisted Parking Attendants to self-park in Parking Lot 2A. Volunteers and employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs are to self-park and a contractor parking attendant shall direct them to the appropriate area.

All fire lines must be kept open at all times.

During a pandemic or situation identified by the Fargo VA HCS, the Contractor personnel shall wear contractor provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (i.e. masks) when operating patient vehicles at the Fargo VA Health Care System. Contractor personnel not wearing PPE shall be immediately removed from providing Patient Assisted services, the wearing of gloves by Contractor personnel is preferred, but optional. Contract personnel shall avail themselves of hand sanitizer before and after service each Veteran patient; hand sanitizer stations will be located by the facility near the Patient Assisted station.

The Government shall work with the contractor to establish the designated area for the contractor provided booth for the Patient Assisted parking operation at the main entrance of the medical center. The booth will be monitored throughout the workday by contractor staff. The booth shall never be left unattended during operating hours.

The Government shall provide wheelchairs to transport patients to and from the lobby when the patient does not have their own. The contractor shall deliver these wheelchairs, upon patient's or caretaker's request, to the patient to facilitate the patient's travel from the car in the Patient Assisted greeting area to the lobby and back to the car in the Patient Assisted greeting area. The Contractor shall utilize wheelchairs stored in the lobby when needed and are only required to move the patient into the lobby where volunteers will ensure the individual is transported to the appropriate clinic, when requested by the Veteran. The Contractor shall assist the Veteran retrieve their personal wheelchair from the vehicle when requested by the Veteran (i.e. get the Veterans wheelchair out of the trunk).

The contractor shall provide only the limit physical assistance necessary to help patients enter and exit a vehicle and shall only do so at the patient's request. No clinical or emergency care shall be given by the contractor. In the event of a medical emergency or complex physical assistance is needed, the contractor supervisor shall notify the VA Police, VA Emergency Room personnel or local Community Emergency Personnel, depending on the location of the emergency.

The contractor shall greet every vehicle excluding ambulances, VA transportation vans, taxis and other commercial vehicles of vendors conducting business at the VA Medical Center. The greeter shall ask the driver if they have an appointment and what approximate time they will be done. A claim check will be given to the driver. After parking the vehicle, the attendant will write the vehicle description, location and other pertinent information on a card to aid in locating the vehicle when the customer requests it. The contractor will have management control of vehicles entering the designated Patient Assisted parking area(s) in order to maximize the space available and facilitate smooth operations.

Patients driving buses or large vans will be permitted to park their own vehicles in the area deemed to be more convenient and practical to the parking operations, as determined by the contractor's parking attendant.

When a Patient Assisted parking patron returns to claim their vehicle, the contractor shall request the claim ticket from the Patient Assisted parking patron. The Patient Assisted parking attendant will verify the claim ticket to the appropriate keys; retrieve the Patient Assisted patron’s vehicle; and provide the vehicle directly to the Patient Assisted parking patron.

The parking attendant shall turn over to the VA Police Service keys of any vehicles still on the premises after Patient Assisted parking hours. Owners of these vehicles will pick up their keys at the VA Police and Security Office. The VA police will maintain signage on the VA Security Office directing Patient Assisted Parking Patrons to contact the VA Police after hours to obtain keys. The VA Police will direct the Patron to where the vehicle is located, so the Patron can retain their vehicle. If keys are not obtained by the Patron by the next business day the VA Police will coordinate with admissions to determine if Patron was admitted as a patient. The VA Police will coordinate with the appropriate Patron to find appropriate self parking of the vehicle to eliminate load on Patient Assisted Parking for Inpatient Patrons.

Handicapped persons are permitted to pull to the patient entrance to be dropped off, and the Contractor attendant shall then park the car if the patient or driver meets the criteria for Patient Assisted service or the attendant will direct the driver to a handicap space for self-parking.

The contractor may decline to park the following types of vehicles and shall instead direct the drivers of such vehicles to self-park in non-Patient Assisted parking areas on the VA campus: Vehicles modified to accommodate a specific disability for the driver which cannot be operated without additional training. Vehicles which lack a functional seat belt or is otherwise unsafe to drive. Vehicles which do not have fully functioning doors, windows or locks. Persons who are neither VA patients nor helping to transport VA patients for medical care appointments. Vehicles that arrive between the hours of 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm. This time frame shall be used for retrieving previously Patient Assisted parked vehicles only.

All vehicles parked by the contractor shall be locked and secured.

Acceptance of tips, monetary or otherwise, by contractor staff will result in an automatic failure of this standard and disciplinary action. The contractor staff will also be required to relinquish the tip.

All signage content and placement shall be subject to review and approval by the COR. No signage with excessively large or prominent company logos will be accepted. Additionally, no sign may insinuate or otherwise imply that the contractor staff are VA employees (i.e., no VA logos on contractor signage.) Handwritten signs are not permitted.

Contractor employees must know basic directions for destinations in the hospital and around the community. Contractor staff must keep the work area clean and always appear ready for work even though no customers are present.

The contractor will be in control of where all vehicles are parked in order to maximize the space available and facilitate smooth operations. All contractor attendant parked vehicles will be locked, and the keys will be secured using contractor processes approved by the COR.

It is the Contractor's responsibility to screen out visitors, non-Veterans, employees, volunteers, and vendors from using the Patient Assisted parking services (offenders are to be reported to the Police Service for appropriate action). Contractor shall be responsible to direct vehicles, which may be self-parked, to a parking location on premises.

All parking attendants shall possess the minimum competencies required for any commercial Patient Assisted parking contract and be trained by the Contractor on the importance of giving good quality customer service.

Veterans will be treated courteously and with respect at all times.

Patient Assisted s shall maintain the appearance of the entrance by sweeping the area and keeping clear of any trash and debris generated by the Patient Assisted services.

Parking attendants shall drive slowly and cautiously, paying attention to pedestrian traffic.

The VA Medical Center is a drug free workplace. All Contractors' personnel shall be required to adhere to all VA rules and regulations. Contractor will provide a drug screening program for all Patient Assisted s. The contractor shall make available for review all Contractor Employee Training Record and drug screen program reports.

The Contractor shall notify the VA of any areas that may pose a safety hazard to patients, employees, or visitors.

The Contractor shall not make alterations to VA owned parking area line striping. If line striping changes are desired, the Patient Assisted Contractor shall make a recommendation in writing to the Contracting Officer. If the recommended changes are approved by the CO, the VA will accomplish the re-striping.

Patient Assisted parking personnel shall be permitted to park on site, in locations specified for volunteers, employees, and/or other Contractor Personnel.

Cell phone use by Contract employees will be permitted in accordance with applicable Fargo VA policy.

Smoking is not permitted within or around the VA facility grounds, to include inside any vehicle.

Construction projects, not yet determined, may impact the Patient Assisted parking operation during the term of any contract resulting from this solicitation; therefore, the ten minute time duration may be extended at the Contracting Officer's discretion.

Claims of damage or missing/stolen property involving customer's vehicles shall be the responsibility of the Contractor. The VA assumes no responsibility for any damage to patron's vehicles caused during the performance of the Contractor's services or for any such claims.

Claims shall be reported to the mission partner within 24 hours of occurrence. The Contractor must provide the Contracting Officer insurance certificate(s) evidencing the required minimum coverage prior to award of the resulting contract.

Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance:

(1) $100,000.00 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one accident.

(2) $300,000.00 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided above for bodily injury to or death of one of the persons.

(3) $50,000.00 for damage to, or destruction of, property of others in one accident.

Comprehensive General Liability Insurance: The comprehensive general liability insurance must be on a broad form and provide limits of liability for bodily injury and property damage of not less than $300,000.00 combined single limit or the equivalent.

Patient Assisted /garage insurance must provide limits of liability for bodily injury and property damage of not less than $300,000.00 combined single limit, or the equivalent, and must provide the following coverage's: (1) Comprehensive and collision coverage for physical damage; (2) Coverage for vehicle storage; and (3) Coverage for a vehicle driven by or at the direction of the Patient Assisted parking service.

The Contractor shall assign to this contract the following key personnel:

· Patient Assisted parking personnel

· Patient Assisted parking personnel supervisor (This responsibility can be taken on by one of the Patient Assisted parking personnel).

During the life of this contract the Contractor shall notify the CO at least 30 days prior to making any permanent substitutions, and the contractor employee shall not be allowed to start work until the NACI background investigation has been initiated in accordance with paragraph 16, Contractor Personnel Security Requirement, of this SOW. The Contractor shall provide a detailed written explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, and any additional information requested by the Contracting Officer. Proposed substitutes shall have comparable qualifications to those of the persons being replaced. The CO will notify the Contractor within 15 calendar days after the receipt of all required information of the decision on the proposed substitutes. The government will only approve changes of key personnel via written communication.

For temporary substitutions where the key person will not be reporting to work for three (3) consecutive workdays or more, the Contractor will provide a qualified replacement for the key person. This substitute shall have comparable qualifications to the key person. Any period exceeding two (2) weeks will require the procedure stated in paragraph above.

Contractor shall provide a list to the CO of all personnel with their driver's license number prior to starting of work on the contract.

The parties agree that the Contractor, its employees, agents and subcontractors shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose.

All parking attendants shall be trained in providing excellent customer service demonstrating courtesy, kindness, and caring. Contractor employees shall be neat and clean in appearance. A pleasant demeanor and courteousness is required at all times. Good hygiene practice shall be enforced by the Contractor, including a professional appearance in dress and hairstyle.

Contractor staff shall possess a thorough understanding of written and spoken English.

Contract staff may also not utilized clothing, signs, or any other item that conveys support for a particular political party or figure, union, or other personal statement.

Contractor staff shall be able to handle all normal transmission types, read all standard speedometers, and operate all of the aspects of commercially available vehicles.

The Contractor will provide adequate on-site supervision at all times in order to handle customer concerns and parking incidents. The Contractor does all recruiting, hiring, training and supervising.

The use and placement of any shelters or other temporary or permanent fixtures, canopies or covered areas that the contractor wishes to provide for their employees must be approved by the Contracting Officer prior to installation.

Parts for Repairs (if applicable)

N/A

General Requirements It shall be understood that, throughout performance of the contract, the Contractor’s personnel, while on VA property, shall adhere to all requirements and regulations that govern the VA Health Care System and its property.

Among all other requirements, the VA Health Care System and its property is now entirely smoke-free.

Contractor and their personnel shall follow all U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies, standard operating procedures, applicable laws, and applicable regulations while on VA property. Violations of this may result in citation and disciplinary measures for persons violating the law.

Contractor and their personnel shall wear visible identification at all times while they are on premises.

VA does not provide parking spaces at the work site; the Contractor must obtain parking at the work site if needed. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to park in the appropriate designated parking areas. VA shall not invalidate or make reimbursement for parking violations of the Contractor under any conditions.

Possession of weapons is prohibited.

Contractor shall take all reasonable precautions necessary to protect persons and property from injury or damage during the performance of this contract.

All contract employees who will provide services under this agreement shall be drug tested by an outside source. Results of the drug screens must be provided to the Contracting Officer upon request. Any employee who fails the drug screen will not be allowed to work at this facility. The contractor agrees to remove any employee from working at the SFVAHCS facility if it is deemed necessary by the CO. Reasons for such removal may include, but are not limited to, if an employee poses a risk to the health or safety of any employee or individual requiring services, or if the CO disapproves of the conduct of any of the employees, or if the employee interferes with the business or operations of the hospital.

Security Requirements (as applicable if background checks are required per Handbook 6500.6 Checklist)

Background investigations shall be conducted on all employees and shall be adjudicated prior to the contract employee being allowed to perform duties.

Background investigations and special agreement checks: All contractor personnel are subject to the same level of investigation as VA employees who have access to VA Sensitive Information. The level of background investigation commensurate with the level of access needed to perform the statement of work is: Low Level NACI. All contract employees whose contract is for longer than 180 days are required to have a Low Level NACI. Since the duration of the base year is longer than the 180 days, all contract employees who will be onsite are required to have a NACI initiated prior to starting work. If there are any issues that arise out of the NACI the Contracting Officer shall notify the Contractor and the Contractor shall immediately remove that Employee from contract work. The removal of the Employee shall not excuse any failure to meet contract requirements. Contract employees who will only be on station for less than 90 days, as fill-in or temporary basis, will only be required to have a SAC done on them.

This only requires fingerprints and is normally completed within 10-15 days. The employees cannot start working until the SAC is completed.

This requirement is applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same access.

Following contract award, the Contracting Officer will provide the Contractor with forms to complete and guidance regarding the background process.

The Contracting Officer will request the Contractor Employee's background investigation by the Office of Security and Law Enforcement. The Office of Security and Law Enforcement will notify the Contractor with instructions for the Contractor's employees, coordinate the background investigations, and notify the contracting officer of the results of the investigation. The VA facility will pay for requested investigations in advance. A bill for collection will be sent to the contractor to reimburse the VA facility. The Contractor will reimburse the VA facility within 30 days. If timely payment is not made within 30 days from the date of bill for collection, then the VA shall deduct the cost incurred from the Contractor's 1st month's invoice(s) for services rendered. The estimated fees associated with background investigations are $275.00 each for low level investigation, $900.00 each for medium level investigation, and $3,200.00 each for high level investigation.