P03-Varian-Sole Source Justification - Redacted.pdf

VHAPG Part 813.5 Simplified Acquisition Procedures for Certain Commercial Items Attachment 1: Request for Sole Source Justification Template >SAT-$7.5M under FAR13.5

Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Page 1 of 5

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 13.5

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C248-22-AP-4365

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Procurement Office (RPO)

East, Network Contracting Activity (NCO) 8, VA Caribbean Healthcare System (VACHS), San Juan; Puerto Rico. Purchase Request number is: 672-22-2-035-0064.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: This procurement is for a new firm-fixed-price service contract to provide software and hardware maintenance services to the ARIA/Eclipse Varian Medical System, located at the VACHS, Radiology Oncology Department. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and specifically FAR 13.501 Special Documentation Requirements, where acquisitions conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6, but still require a justification using the format of FAR 6.303-2.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs: The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to maintain the software and hardware on the Varian infrastructure and platform. These services shall provide routine preventive and corrective maintenance to ensure optimal working conditions and lessen the likelihood of downtime. Also, the Varian Full-scale Solution on Premises Services has a dedicated Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection that allows the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to remotely connect into the system to diagnose user-specific issues, push security patches, allow for error log retrieval, and assist users and service engineers from a remote location.

ARIA and Eclipse are Varian proprietary software used to keep the Radiation Oncology treatment record, control the Varian Trilogy Linear Accelerator and plan the patients treatment. They are interconnected. Currently the VACHS uses version 13.7 which is on divest. Therefore, the VA Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) has informed that all projects using this technology must plan to eliminate their use by or before the end of the current FY 22 or it will be removed automatically by OI&T. Thus, leaving Radiation Oncology without this resource. The software must be upgraded to at least version 16 to comply with the VA OI&T policies found at: Aria Oncology Information System (OIS) (va.gov)

The estimated value of this procurement including the base and all option periods is:

$2,227,879.00. The resultant contract will be for a one (1) year base period estimated to begin on 08/01/2022, and four (4) one-year option periods. In order to meet the Agency need, in addition to the maintenance services, the procurement encompasses the acquisition of a Multi Criteria Optimization (MCO) Acuros License and 17 ARIA Workstations. As such, there https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftrm.oit.va.gov%2FToolPage.aspx%3Ftid%3D7040&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cb5adac00f4f04055556c08da544fc555%7Ce95f1b23abaf45ee821db7ab251ab3bf%7C0%7C0%7C637914998849404046%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5ZftCaiJPXgtHeFTmI6kEkgnCbrge2hqXVaqJbo3T0Q%3D&reserved=0

Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Page 2 of 5 will be 7 Line Item Numbers (LINs), 3 in the base period and 1 in the subsequent option periods. The detailed estimate amount per period is as follows:

Period Amount Base year $528,475.00 First Option $424,851.00 Second Option $424,851.00 Third Option $424,851.00 Fourth Option $424,851.00

The resulting solicitation/contract will include the following LINs:

Line Item

Description Qty Unit of issue

0001 (MCO) Acuros License 1 Each 0002 Aria Workstations 17 Each 0003 Base Period – Full Scale Solution on Premises 12 Month 1001 First Option – Full Scale Solution on Premises 12 Month 2001 Second Option – Full Scale Solution on Premises 12 Month 3001 Thrid Option – Full Scale Solution on Premises 12 Month 4001 Fourth Option – Full Scale Solution on Premises 12 Month

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Restricted Competition:

FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority for applying the Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items of FAR 13.5 is 41 U.S.C. § 1901 and is implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) for restricting competition on this procurement. Competition is restricted on this procurement for the reason below:

(X) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements ( ) Unusual and Compelling Urgency ( ) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert Services ( ) International Agreement ( ) Authorized or Required by Statute ( ) National Security ( ) Public Interest

5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition

Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority):

Varian Medical Systems, Inc. is the only source for the required support and preventive maintenance, inspection, and repairs. ARIA and Eclipse are copyright and proprietary of Varian Medical Systems, Inc. A letter was received from Varian’s Service Department which states that Varian Medical Systems, Inc. does not authorize third party vendors to service Varian equipment due to proprietary hardware and software, to include software updates.

Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Page 3 of 5

This contract also requires remote access to perform diagnostics for expedited service and repair of this highly specialized system. All software patches, upgrades, updates, revisions are available only from the OEM. The proprietary service support software and hardware maintenance can only be accessed by Varian. Exclusivity letter has been uploaded to this action briefcase.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: Queries were conducted in the Veterans Information Pages (VIP), as well as in the Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Search Tool. However, as confirmed by the OEM of the equipment to be maintained at VACHS, there are no authorized dealer or distributor for Varian equipment. The original equipment manufacture is the only vendor that can provide preventive and corrective maintenance services, upgrades, updates and patches to Varian equipment. Equipment, replacement parts, service keys, and manuals from the Original Equipment Manufacturer, Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

are proprietary and not available to third party vendors. An exclusivity letter from the original equipment manufacture was uploaded to the requirement briefcase.

7. Determination by the CO that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The contracting officer will use any or a combination of the of the following techniques for making a fair and reasonable price determination before award. The anticipated techniques are: Comparison of the contractor’s quoted price with historical data for similar services. Request pricing information to the contractor for similar services provided to other agencies or private companies. Request to the original equipment manufacture any official price list available and compare the quote received with the list prices. Search the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) to identify awards made to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. and request information to such CO’s in order to compare the prices offered to the VACHS with those awarded to other agencies.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: The market research demonstrates that only Varian Medical Systems Inc. can satisfy the Government need. A search was conducted in the Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database to identify capable Service-Disabled Veteran- Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) vendors. The search was conducted using a combination of NAICS 811219 and PSC J065. Results provided zero (0) SDVOSB or VOSB companies capable of fulfil this requirement. Due to the proprietary nature of the equipment and associated firmware and software, there are no other vendor that can provide the services and equipment needed.

An exclusivity letter from Varian Medical Systems, Inc. which is the original equipment manufacture, is uploaded in this action briefcase. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. is the sole authorized entity to maintain the firmware and software and provide maintenance on Varian equipment to access, troubleshoot, repair, and calibrate the units to proper specifications.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: The VACHS current Electronic Patient Record and Verification (EPRV) system must be maintained to guarantee continuous and uninterrupted treatment of the patients in our system. Varian

Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Page 4 of 5

Medical Systems, Inc. is the only vendor that can provide a full-scale solution to run all software, hardware, licenses and maintenance. No other company can provide upgrades, support or any service related to the maintenance, updates or operation of the EPRV. This procurement for the preventive software support and hardware maintenance services provided only by Varian Medical Systems, Inc. will adhere to the mandated equipment and software maintenance standards.

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Unique Entity Indentifier (UEI) number PHMMJPNSNZV5.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any

Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: There is currently only one source for the required preventive software support and hardware maintenance services. The contracting officer will continue to conduct market research and synopsize future requirements for the same services to see if any additional vendors can provide the services to the Government.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Carmen Santiago-Canchani Date Title: Administrative Officer Facility: VACHS

13. Approvals in accordance with the VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP:

a. Contracting Officer or Designee’s Certification (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Rafael Rodriguez Date Title: Contract Officer Facility: NCO-8 https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAProcurement/VHAPM/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx

Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Page 5 of 5

b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over SAT but not exceeding $750K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Name: Maribel Santa de la Paz Date

NCO-8

Branch Chief, San Juan Services

c. VHA RPO HCA Review and Approval: I have reviewed the foregoing justification and find it to be complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief and approve ($750K to $7.5 million (or $15.0 million for acquisitions described in FAR 13.500(c)) for other than full and open competition.

Name: Joseph P. Maletta Date VHA Head of Contracting Activity (HCA)