LSJ Medical Services betaSAM1_Redacted.pdf

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Limited-Sources Justification (LSJ) - FAR 8.405-6

For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

Date: August 25, 2020

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

CBP intends to limit the number of sources solicited pursuant to FAR Part 8.405-6(a) by issuing a sole source task order under the Veterans Affairs Federal Supply Schedule 621i. The contractor is Loyal Source Government Services (Loyal Source) at 12612 Challenger Parkway, Suite 365, Orlando, FL 32826.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

CBP requires healthcare practitioners to work out of Medical Priority Facilities (MPFs), Office of Field Operations (OFO) Ports of Entry (POEs), and potentially other forward deployed locations to address medical and public health concerns for individuals in CBP custody.

In response to the humanitarian crisis, CBP has established enhanced medical provisions for persons in custody at the Southwest border and OFO POEs. Contractor personnel deliver mid-level medical support at approximately 80 locations. They provide health screenings to individuals in CBP’s custody, unaccompanied children, and family units.

Efforts include, but are not limited to:

• Maintain 24/7/365 hours of operation at most locations

• Provide supervisory physician oversight, patient safety risk monitoring, total and medical quality management and regional pediatric advisory services

• Ensure 100% health intake interviews of children under age 18

• Document medical assessments for all Individuals in custody

Provide follow-up care after referral to a local health system or hospitalization Public Health/Infectious Disease support – CBP contracted medical personnel shall provide support to early identification, treatment, isolation, appropriate referrals, infection control, and public health support for infectious diseases in CBP facilities Exit Health Interview – shall be conducted for class members who receive medical treatment in CBP custody, as appropriate, to ensure persons in custody are fit for travel or transfer

Period of Performance:

Base: September 30, 2020 – September 29, 2021 Option One: September 30, 2021 – September 29, 2022

*The base and option periods of performance may change to accommodate funding. However the period of performance will not be extended nor will the total estimated value of this procurement increase as a result of these future changes due to funding.

Estimated Value:

For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

4. Authority and supporting rationale.

FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(B) Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a) and FAR 8.405-6(c), Limiting Sources.

The current BPA was awarded in September 2015 with a base period of performance and option years through September 29, 2020. It was a competitive acquisition under the VA Federal Supply Schedule 621i as a small business set-aside and Loyal Source received the award.

CBP’s current contract for medical services expires at the end of September 2020. DHS has analyzed similar requirements from across the Department and determined it appropriate to pursue a strategically sourced contract for the subject services. Accordingly, DHS has appointed ICE to be the Executive Agent to lead the initiative. The strategic sourcing team is in the planning and requirements phase and an award is not anticipated until fiscal year 2022. Based on these circumstances, CBP requires the planned interim contract action to ensure continuity of these critical services until the strategic sourcing contract has been awarded and an effective transition of services can take place.

Due to the time it will take ICE to get a new multiple award IDIQ contract in place, CBP needs a short-term solution and only the incumbent can provide the services required at the level of quality and magnitude required at this time. CBP will begin assessing whether the effort should be competed for the period of performance after the 2020-2021 base year.

As a critical part of its mission, CBP must continuously provide medical care services, to now include Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) screening, at various border and POE locations to protect the health of individuals in CBP’s custody seeking asylum as well as the officers interacting with migrant populations. Depending on the operational tempo the place of performance may be modified. Possible expansion locations are at the discretion of the Government. The contractor shall also be capable of expanding to other geographical locations within the United States, including areas along the Northern Border or U.S. Airports.

For the reasons described herein, this action is required to preserve life, safety, and health of immigrants, agents, and officers by continuing to provide medical services for the humanitarian initiative at border crossings and ports of entry (POEs). With the number of medical personnel shortages that exist and the lack of qualified medical professionals at remote locations, Loyal Source is particularly qualified and they currently staff a CBP task order with 800+ medical personnel. Loyal Source has created a successful staffing model to recruit, hire, and maintain staff in austere areas. As the current contractor on this effort, Loyal Source has the cleared personnel in place to fulfill continued requirements immediately.

Loyal Source is uniquely qualified to provide the required services in the near term until the follow-on procurement is awarded. As the incumbent contractor, Loyal Source possesses the expertise and understanding of the requirements as well as the immediate capability and capacity to perform the required services. Since February 2019, Loyal Source has been able to hire and vet over 800 CBP background-cleared contractor medical staff. Without having the background-cleared personnel and the training and experience that Loyal Source staff have obtained, another contractor would not be able to implement the immediate medical requirements of USBP/OFO as required by CBP medical directives. Having a new

For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) contractor start this late in the project would lead to unacceptable risk to CBP and delays in staffing locations as well as a delay in implementing the mandated services and required medical quality management. A new contractor would need to be educated on the CBP medical protocols, medical directives, medical quality management standards and methodologies performed to date, and there could be a minimum of 120 days of lost productivity and service gaps due to the CBP background process. The market research showed that no other contractor would be capable of successfully performing to the magnitude required, given the large staffing requirements nationwide, remote staffing challenges, diverse nature of the effort, and particular and unique skill set required for migrant issues. This would cause imminent risk to CBP and could result in serious illness and/or loss of life.

A competitive solicitation would take at least six months to award and another six to twelve months to complete background investigations for contractor personnel. To transition to a new contractor would result in a significant loss of medical coverage for this initiative. If the current operations experience a lapse in service, it would cause an imminent risk to CBP personnel and to individuals in CBP’s custody.

For the reasons described above, CBP intends to award a firm fixed price sole source task order pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B).

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the anticipated order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The Contracting Officer has determined that issuing a task order to Loyal Source is the best value in meeting the Government’s ongoing Humanitarian needs.

A fair and reasonable determination will be made by comparing the quoted labor rates to the VA Schedule and the IGCE. The Contracting Officer will also seek additional discounts in the Request for Quote phase. Lastly, the price schedule within the task order cannot exceed the prices in the VA FSS Contract V7971-30203, which were deemed fair and reasonable by a VA Contracting Officer at the time the VA FSS Contract was awarded.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

A Request for Information was sent to 30 VA FSS 621i vendors in spring 2019 with responses only from firms that were not capable of performing these services in the scale that is required or that were not interested in the requirement. A follow up Request for Information with the same questions was sent to VA FSS 621i vendors in August 2020, and no responses were received from vendors with experience administering similar government contracts of this size and scope. In 2015, three vendors submitted proposals, including the current contractor. The other two contractors were included on these RFIs. One contractor replied in 2019 to say they were not interested and the other did not reply at all. Neither contractor replied at all in 2020. Three vendors replied to the 2020 RFI but in responding to the questions gauging their capability, did not have experience with contracts of this size (i.e. largest contract is a $5M contract with 45 medical personnel) and did not have experience with the populations being screened by CBP or with quality assurance and medical surveillance programs.

The market research showed that no other contractor would be capable of successfully performing to the magnitude required, given the large staffing requirements nationwide, remote staffing challenges, diverse nature of the effort, and particular and unique skill set required for migrant issues.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited-sources justification.

For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) N/A.

8. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration (i.e., limited-sources) before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made. Include a statement of actions taken or that will be taken to increase competition for future acquisitions of the same item/service (e.g., the government intends to revise overly restrictive technical specifications, acquire data rights, or pursue some other means to increase future competition). Posting requirements may also be addressed here or in #9 below.

It is anticipated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will competitively award a DHS Strategic Sourcing vehicle for medical services in fiscal year 2022. CBP will coordinate with ICE in fiscal year 2021 to analyze the status of the DHS Strategic Sourcing IDIQ to ascertain if a new competitive CBP action should be accomplished for the period of performance beginning in September 2021

9. CBP intends to post this requirement on beta.sam.gov pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)(i)(B)(1).