P03 Sole Source Justification - Millers Express - 6.27.20 .pdf

VHAPM Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Attachment 1: Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT

VHAPM Part 813.106 Page 1 of 2 Original Date: 08/30/17 Revision 01 Eff Date: 04/23/2018

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification for Single Source Awards IAW FAR 13.106-1 For

Over Micro-Purchase Threshold but Not Exceeding the SAT ($250K)

Acquisition Plan Action ID: VA-20-00028599

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 01, VA Medical Centers- 523-20-4-2765- 0078. Transport of Blood products throughout VISN 1.

2. Brief Description of Supplies/ Services required and the intended use/Estimated Amount: STAT Transport of Blood Products from the American Red Cross (ARC) to VA Boston, Manchester and Togus and White River Junction. There will be further transport of blood products within VA Boston for blood products tested at the West Roxbury VA and sent to VA Jamaica Plain and VA West Roxbury. This contract also includes infrequent transport of blood products to and from VA West Roxbury to surrounding Boston hospitals, and the possibility of transporting needed blood products from Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC) to VA West Roxbury to meet the critical needs of VA patients that are on the operating table. All Boston area deliveries shall be delivered within a 1-hour timeframe from call out to vendor.

Estimated cost $28,471.02/year, and the estimated cost for a 5-year BPA is $142,355.10.

3. Unique characteristics that limit availability to only one source, with the reason no other supplies or services can be used: There have been vendors of small businesses as well as large businesses that have claimed to be able to transport critical blood products within 1 hour to the Boston area to meet the needs of our patients and providers. They have failed. Requests for STATS need to be delivered in under an hour. Miller’s Express is the only courier service that has consistently met these rapid delivery requirements. One advantage for Miller’s Express is that they have a driver that waits in the ARC parking lot ready to deliver these urgent blood product requests, or have enough drivers in the surrounding geographic area to get to the ARC as the requests come in, no waiting to find an available driver or a driver that can get to the destination within timeframe to meet the required within 1-hour delivery time. Another vendor tried the same approach of having a driver wait in the ARC parking lot yet stopped because there were not enough deliveries to make it profitable for them. Once again, Miller’s Express came through and has been meeting the VA’s needs for STAT transportation for over 10 years making them the only trusted courier driver to meet the VA’s urgent requests. Patients lives are at stake as some of these patients are already in the Operating Room waiting for the blood to be received. A patient’s life can not wait for excuses.

Experimenting with yet another vendor who says that can do the transport in under an hour and then fails cannot be tolerated. The risk is too great, we cannot take the chance that another vendor might fail. A failure is a failure for our patient and the quality service VA has promised to provide our Veterans. In fact, we have already done that, taken the chance with other vendors, and learned from that as stated above. How would we explain to the Veteran or Veteran’s family that VA put the need to provide opportunities to other vendors over the need to ensure we have a safe, reliable process in place to provide the care they need when they need it?

https://www.acquisition.gov/?q=/browse/far/13

VHAPM Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Attachment 1: Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT

VHAPM Part 813.106 Page 2 of 2 Original Date: 08/30/17 Revision 01 Eff Date: 04/23/2018

Miller’s Express price to perform the contract has been determined to be fair and reasonable based on the following. Over the past five years Miller’s Express did not increase their pricing from 2015- 2020, and there have been no instances of any patients not receiving blood in a timely manner. We should not change vendors for something so critical to life and death.

4. Description of market research conducted and results or statement why it was not conducted:

Past experience. We have tried City Express, Commonwealth Carrier and a couple of other companies and they have continually failed to meet the VA needs and put a patient’s life into danger when they fail to deliver as promised. There are often times that the request for blood products Is made while a patient is actively being operated on. This is no time for a courier to say they’ll be there in an hour and don’t show up until 1 ½ -2 hours later. Prior VA experience shows that only Miller’s Express can consistently and successfully provide these blood products that can keep a patient alive.

5. Contracting Officer's Certification: Purchase is approved in accordance with FAR13.106-1(b). I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Julie Lemire Date Title: NCO1 – Contracting Officer

6/29/2020 https://acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart%2013_1.html#wp1125466