N3220517D3505P00008 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL REDACTED.pdf

J&A No. N3220517D3505

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A) FOR USE OF

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity:

The Contracting Activity is the Military Sealift Command (MSC), Issuing Office N33205, Services Branch N102B, Norfolk, Virginia.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved:

The purpose of this action is to extend the period of performance under the existing services with Remote Medical

International (RMI) contract No. N3220517D3505, for an additional six months pursuant to Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services clause. FAR 52.217-8 pricing was not evaluated prior to award, therefore the Contracting Officer will negotiate pricing for the additional six months. The intent is to issue a modification to the existing contract in order to provide a “bridge” to allow sufficient time to award a follow-on effort. Current contract expires on 30 September 2021. The period of performance will commence 01 October 2021 until 31 March 2022.

3. Description of the Supplies/Services:

The contractor provides urgent and emergency medical advice, urgent or emergency patient transportation and in route medical support to advance care mainland medical facilities for all MSC government owned and operated ships and units located worldwide. Medical evacuation as required for the movement of patients from one medical facility to another for emergent, urgent, and non-urgent medical reasons. Medical transportation will most commonly be from on shore based medical facility to another, but may occasionally be from another designated location, such as an airfield where a patient is being transported to from a ship at sea. Medical transportation may require the use of appropriate land vehicles, air transportation, water transportation, or any combination thereof.

The total covered population under the scope of the current contract is approximately 5,500 people, but is subject to fluctuation based on mission requirements and changes in the ship inventory. If an evacuation is required, the contractor will acquire permission/clearance for its aircraft (either organic to its organization or subcontracted) to comply with requirements of the transport areas.

Based on prior Task Order execution, estimated Task Orders under this ordering period will be approximately

$200,042.59 for six months. In accordance with the terms and conditions of this Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-

Quantity (IDIQ) contract, the remaining ceiling amount of $515,536.28 will be moved to the final ordering period.

Therefore, the current contractual ceiling will not be increased. Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Navy Working Capital funds will be used for the issuance of the Task Orders within this final ordering period.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition:

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (a)(2)(iii)(B), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(iii)(B), "services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other sources would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements."

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority:

The option to extend services must be issued on a sole-source basis to prevent an interruption of services while the re-compete acquisition is in-progress. The original Solicitation N3220516R2308, was competed and synopsized on

Federal Business Opportunities on 30 January 2017, and it included the FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services clause. The Government’s intent was to exercise FAR 52.217-8 unilaterally; however the six month extension pricing was not evaluated prior to award.

Based on the aforementioned, awarding a modification under the original contract as a sole source is in the best interest of the Government. It provides the most economical and efficient method to prevent a lapse in service and ensures a continuation of services to meet the needs of the command.

If a lapse in services were to occur, MSC would be greatly impacted, as it would not be able to provide continuous

Medical Directed Transportation and Medical Advisory Services required to support civil service mariners, active duty military personnel and sponsor personnel embarked on MSC vessels worldwide. The contractor provides urgent and emergency medical advice, urgent or emergency patient transportation and in route medical support to advance care mainland medical facilities for all MSC government owned and operated ships and units located worldwide. A lack of contractual coverage would have detrimental effects to the MSC’s overall mission and fleet readiness.

The incumbent contractor, RMI, provides a full range medical support services to the afloat workforce of MSC.

Afloat support is critical as it impacts critical life or death timelines, fleet operational readiness, and quality of life.

Without adequate contractor support, MSC would be severely impacted by not having the appropriate coverage to assist in ensuring mission requirements are being met with little to no interruption.

Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, which would result in unacceptable delays in supporting MSC’s mission.

N02H/MSC does not currently have the staff or capabilities to realign and assume responsibilities of these functions.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable:

The requiring activity is currently preparing the specifications for the follow-on requirement anticipated for execution during FY 2022. Market research is currently being performed for the follow-on requirement to identify all potential sources. Multiple sources have expressed an interest to the Contracting Officer, which will be retained on file for market research purposes.

Although multiple sources have expressed an interest in the requirement, there would not be sufficient time to recompete the contract prior to contract expiration. Awarding to another contractor is not a feasible course of action to provide these services during this interim period prior to a follow-on contract award as it would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. A substantial duplication of costs would occur as stated above since a new company would need to effectively transition for a short period, while the contract is being recompeted which would prevent a continuity of services.

Exercising the option to extend services under FAR 52.217-8 will ensure the command does not incur unacceptable delays in executing its mission. At the time of the initial competition, the clause at FAR 52.217-8 was included within Solicitation N3220516R2308, which was posted on the government point of entry site (fbo.gov at the time) as stated above. The requirement was competed with the intent for the Government to exercise this option unilaterally during the life of the contract. This effort is covered by the exception at FAR 5.202(a) (11), as the proposed action is being made under the terms of an existing contract that was previously synopsized in sufficient detail. An approved redacted J&A will be made available on beta.sam.gov per FAR 6.305.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost:

The Contracting Officer will determine the anticipated price for the extension represents the best value to the government to ensure it is fair and reasonable. Per FAR 52.217-8, “The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed Six months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the contractor prior to the end of the performance period.” The intent is to extend the current contract at the rates established under the last option period under the contract via a bilateral contract modification.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition:

The Government is working with the requiring activity to develop a performance-based scope to enhance competition requirements. The Government will ensure to include FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services clause within the follow on solicitation and will ensure to evaluate the pricing prior to award.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

SIGNED AND DATED

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW

I have determined this Justification is legally sufficient.

SIGNED AND DATED

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

SIGNED AND DATED

DIVISION DIRECTOR APPROVAL:

I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

SIGNED AND DATED