Response to Offeror Questions document.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- 25RFP-25-0901005-013
- Issued by
- South Dakota
About this file
This is a Questions and Answers document for RFP No. 25-0901005-013 issued by the South Dakota Department of Health, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. The RFP seeks an assessment of extended downtime preparedness for the South Dakota Health Care Coalition (SD HCC), which includes approximately 180 healthcare facilities and health systems across the state. The assessment will evaluate facilities' readiness for extended downtime events unrelated to cyber-attacks, including IT outages, utility failures, and equipment malfunctions that could impact hospital operations and patient care. The focus is on critical clinical and operational functions like emergency services, intensive care units, medical imaging, pharmacy, and laboratory services.
The scope specifically excludes physical plant assessments and cybersecurity evaluations, which will be conducted separately. The assessment will cover only SD HCC members, including healthcare, long-term care, public health, and EMS facilities. While collaborative workshops and training sessions may result from the assessment findings, they are not required deliverables. The document notes that more detailed information about key stakeholders and facilities will be provided after contract award. No specific pricing terms, set-asides, or funding information is included in this Q&A document.
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Department Of Health, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response
RFP No. 25-0901005-013
State of South Dakota 600 East Capitol Ave
Pierre, SD 57501 605-280-5238
Date: February 3, 2025
Subject: Questions and Answers for RFP No. 25-0901005-013
In accordance with the subject Request for Proposal (RFP), the following are answers to questions which have been submitted prior to February 3, 2025, 5:00pm (CST). These questions are for informational purposes only; they do not alter the requirements specified within the RFP.
Any changes to the RFP will be accomplished by the Office of Procurement Management through the use of an addendum.
The SD DOH is a member of the SD HCC, and the assessment includes both the
SD DOH and other members of the Health Care Coalition. Questions will be answered accordingly.
1. Question: Does the State DOH have an existing BC/DR plan? Is it actively maintained/tested?
Answer: The South Dakota Department of Health (SD DOH) has a Disaster Response (DR) plan in place. However, the assessment will focus on the entire South Dakota Health Care Coalition
(SD HCC), which includes various member facilities. As part of the assessment, it will be determined whether these facilities have disaster plans in place and whether they are actively maintained and tested.
2. Question: Is the SD HCC insured for business interruption?
Answer: This is a question that should be directed to each facility within the SD HCC during the assessment.
3. Question: Does the SD HCC know the potential impact (financial & non-financial) of an outage or service disruption?
Answer: The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate whether facilities are prepared to manage an extended downtime incident, determine if operations and patient care can continue, and assess whether there is a mitigation plan in place to respond if such an event occurs. This is a question that should be directed to each facility within the SD HCC during the assessment.
4. Question: Does the SD HCC know what resources are needed to recover?
600 East Capitol Ave
5. Question: Does the SD HCC know what the maximum tolerable outage is?
6. Question: Does the scope include Emergency Response readiness assessment?
Answer: The scope does include evaluating emergency response readiness. A determination of whether a facility has emergency response capability would be a question to ask each individual facility during the assessment. A deep dive is not necessary, but rather, the focus will be on whether a process is in place to respond to disasters the facility may encounter.
7. Question: Does the scope include physical plant assessment (i.e. Facilities readiness/redundancy)?
Answer: No, the scope does not include a physical plant assessment. However, it would be appropriate to include a related question within the assessment to determine whether the facility is prepared and has backup systems in place.
8. Question: Are critical applications onsite, hosted by ASP, cloud-based? How are these systems backed up and stored?
9. Question: Are these applications used across all entities?
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10. Question: Are network connections to remote facilities redundant?
11. Question: Can the SD HCC provide a list (or a ballpark number) of locations, their role/function, hours of operation, etc. This would help us in properly scoping the assessment.
Answer: There are approximately 180 healthcare facilities and health systems within the SD
HCC, spread across the state. Once the RFP is awarded and the contract process begins, more detailed information on key stakeholders will be provided.
12. Question: Could the SD HCC clarify whether the assessment should prioritize specific types of downtime events (e.g., IT failures, utility outages, equipment malfunctions), or should all scenarios be addressed equally?
Answer: The assessment should prioritize extended downtime events unrelated to cyber-attacks, including IT outages, utility failures, equipment malfunctions (both medical and non-medical), and other disruptions that could impact hospital operations and patient care. The focus is on events that could cause prolonged outages, with an emphasis on those directly affecting patient care and hospital operations. A separate cybersecurity assessment will be conducted independently from the extended downtime assessment.
13. Question: Can the SD HCC provide more details on the "critical clinical and operational functions" it wants assessed during downtime events? For example, are there specific healthcare services or departments to focus on?
Answer: The assessment should focus on critical clinical and operational functions that directly impact patient care, such as emergency services, intensive care units (ICU), medical imaging, pharmacy and laboratory services, and other essential healthcare departments. The goal is to ensure that, during downtime events, these critical services can continue or have backup plans in place to minimize disruption to patient care.
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14. Question: Could the SD HCC outline the key stakeholders or partners to be consulted during the assessment? Are there specific healthcare facilities, emergency management teams, or public health entities the SD HCC wants involved?
Answer: There are approximately 180 healthcare facilities and health systems within the SD
HCC, spread across the state. The goal is to reach as many healthcare, long-term care, public health, and EMS members within the SD HCC during the assessment. Once the RFP is awarded and the contract process begins, more detailed information on key stakeholders and partners, will be provided.
15. Question: Should the assessment focus solely on healthcare coalition facilities or include broader public health and emergency response systems?
Answer: The assessment will include only those members within the SD HCC, which includes healthcare, public health, and EMS members.
16. Question: How involved should SD HCC partners be in the assessment process? Are there expectations for collaborative workshops or training sessions?
Answer: The goal is to reach as many members (partners) as possible within the SD HCC during the assessment. Based on the outcome of the assessment, there may be opportunities for collaborative workshops and training sessions in the future, but these are not an expectation of the assessment itself.
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