Pre-Solicitation Notice - September 2020 Consolidation.pdf

SEPTEMBER 2020 Consolidation

The September 2020 Consolidation will be posted to Beta.SAM

1. This solicitation is only open to companies that have a current contract for the equipment types listed herein with the VA National Acquisition Center, High Tech Medical Equipment Division or with the

Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support (DLA-TS) under which the VA National Acquisition Center has been given ordering authority.

2. September 2020 Consolidation Schedule:

Dates* Milestone – All Modalities

12/23/2020 Pre-Solicitation Notice posted to FBO

12/30/2020 Post requirements (RFQ) to FBO

01/13/2021 Deadline for Vendors to submit questions to NAC

01/27/2021 Deadline for NAC to respond to Vendor Questions

02/17/2021 Deadline for Vendor to submit quotes to NAC

03/03/2021 Deadline for Customers to receive vendor quotes via the shared drive

04/07/2021 Deadline for Customer to submit Best Value Selections

05/12/2021 Deadline for NAC to complete review of Selection Justifications

06/16/2021 Goal to award all Delivery Orders

*Dates are estimates and are subject to change

3. Vendor Instructions:

a) In order to maintain the vendor email group, all HTME ID/IQ contractors are required to submit the following information to Ms. Cheryl Fears at Cheryl.fears@va.gov.

1) Contract Administrator: Provide the name, address and email of the current contract administrator.

2) Provide the current contact information (name and email address) to be included on email notifications regarding HTME updates and Consolidations.

b) During the solicitation phase following the 12/30/2020 Beta.SAM posting and prior to the

05/12/2021 deadline for NAC to complete review of selection justifications, all communication regarding the September 2020 Consolidation shall be coordinated through the NAC

Consolidation Coordinator, Michael Kuchyak at Michael.Kuchyak@va.gov. This includes all requests for clarification or additional information from vendors.

During the evaluation phase, communication should be coordinated by a NAC Contracting

Officer. In the event that a NAC Contracting Officer cannot be available for such communications, a local/VISN Contracting Officer can assist in the communications with the approval of the NAC Consolidation Coordinator. All communications between a vendor and a mailto:Cheryl.fears@va.gov local/VISN Contracting Officer must be provided to the NAC Consolidation Coordinator. This includes all clarifications or additional information that is required to complete evaluations. A

NAC or local/VISN Contracting Officer will determine what access, if any, is needed by the vendors to obtain information and shall be present at all vendor presentations. Presentations are meant to clarify the understanding of equipment features in the quote. Prices or additional equipment or features that were not quoted, shall not be discussed. Once communications have begun with vendors relating to a specific quote, Contracting Officers must control those communications in order to ensure that all vendors are treated fairly and given the same opportunity.

c) The NAC Contracting Officers will review the station’s technical evaluations and recommended selection to determine whether or not the information provided is adequate to award the order or if additional information from the station is required before an award can be executed.

Communication during this time will be through NAC Contracting Officers only. We have advised our customers that when the solicitation process begins there is to be no further contact with vendors regarding their requirements. Information such as members of the evaluation panel is considered confidential source selection information and may not be disclosed.

d) We ask that vendors forward the above information to their respective sales team so that all are aware of the process and timelines.

e) We also ask that you do not contact the NAC or the requesting VISN or Medical Center regarding the status of selections as this will only delay the process. After the NAC has reviewed and finalized all vendor selections for a VISN or Medical Center, an update providing the selections for that VISN or Medical Center will be issued.