RFI Legionella Testing.docx

1. DISCLAIMER: This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this. Request for Information. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the Request for Information will not be returned. At this time, questions concerning the composition and requirements for a future Request for Quote will not be entertained.

1. SUBJECT: The Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting market research in order to provide water safety management/legionella prevention plan services for the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center. The government anticipates awarding a Firm Fixed Price contract with four 12-month option periods that will provide the support services listed within the below attachment.

1. OBJECTIVE: See attachment.

1. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Name and Address of Company.

2. Any small business designation as certified by the Small Business Administration.

3. A through description of experience in managing support requirements of this nature.

4. Provide contract number of similar contracts awarded by the Government.

1. CONTACT INFORMATION: Any questions related to this Request shall be directed to Mark Smith at mark.smith25@va.gov. All information regarding Capabilities Statements or any other proprietary information relative to this Request for Information shall be submitted via email to mark.smith25@va.gov no later than 12:00 pm EST on 7/31/2020.

Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center 1540 Spring Valley Drive, Huntington, WV 25704

STATEMENT OF WORK

WATER SAFETY MANAGEMENT/LEGIONELLA PREVENTION PLAN

I. INTRODUCTION

The mission of the Hershel “Woody” Williams Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Huntington, WV (581) is to provide the highest quality health care to our nation’s veterans. To accomplish this mission, we must protect the health and safety of patients, employees, and visitors.

The Veterans Health Administration currently has one of the most comprehensive Legionella prevention policies in the country and VISN 5 facilities have meticulously reviewed their Legionella prevention activities to verify compliance with VHA requirements. In an effort to enhance our facility programs, VAMC Huntington, WV (581) intends to continue to enhance and implement a Water Safety Management plan with the goal of preventing Legionella associated with building water systems for each building in which patients, visitors and/or staff lodges over-night.

Environmental monitoring followed by clinical surveillance has been successful in uncovering previously unrecognized cases of hospital-acquired Legionella pneumonia. The Water Safety Management Plan address water systems environmental monitoring and control strategies to prevent Legionella.

This Statement of work is for the base year of a base + four contract.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

A. The contractor will continue to work with the medical center’s Water Safety Committee on the Water Safety Management Plan for prevention of Legionella to identify risk and recommended implement control measures both from an engineering and environmental controls standpoint. The Water Safety Management Plan is based upon the principles and requirements specified within this Statement of Work and VHA Directive 1061 as well as the VA requirements and national standards, regulations and policies listed below:

· ASHRAE Guideline 12-2000, Standard Minimizing the Risk of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems for Legionella (reference CDC website) http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/prevention.html

· OSHA Technical Manual – Section III: Chapter 7 https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iii/otm_iii_7.html

· Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/index.cfm

· CTI Guidelines WTB-148, Legionellosis Guideline: Best practices for Control of Legionella http://www.cti.org/downloads/WTP-148.pdf

· Joint Commission Environment of Cares Standards

· CMS Requirements to Reduce Legionella Risk in HealthCare Facility Water Systems to Prevent cases and Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease (LD)

· ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188 Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems

B. Contractor Requirements: The following will be required by the contractor:

1. Audit and review of water systems relevant operational, maintenance, and other practices related to the water systems.

2. Onsite walk through to confirm and further develop the water system inventory which shall include photos, testing of hot/cold chlorine, chloramine and/or other biocide residuals, and water temperature checks.

a. The site Water Safety Committee/Team in conjunction with the contractor will determine the number of microbiological and water chemistry tests required for each building. The number and types of tests performed can vary widely (from none to extensive). The contractor shall, if required, provide water testing for microbiological characteristics and individual laboratory analytical reports for each test conducted and summary laboratory analytical reports for each round of testing.

b. The contractor must be able to provide CDC-ELITE certified Legionella testing from a culture-based method, such as ISO 11731 Spread Plate Method. Samples must be properly processed as the microbiological characteristics of water begin to change as soon as a water sample enters a sample bottle, which could possibly result in erroneous test results. The possibility of having to remediate based upon false positive results or the alternative possibility of not remediating when action is required cannot be allowed. Currently, VHA adheres to the CDC recommendation of a 1 liter water sample per test; therefore the laboratory must be able to test for Legionella using this sample size.

c. Testing shall include compliance with VA Directives and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) – for hot and cold potable/non-potable water systems.

i. In addition to the training identified below, the selected contractor shall maintain ongoing communication with the facility’s Water Safety Committee/Team throughout the plan development

ii. Conduct formal review session(s) of draft plan(s) and procedures with each facility Water Safety Committee/Team.

5. The selected contractor shall develop a corrective action plan and recommended feasible solutions or exclusions for each site based on the hazard assessment. The corrective action plan and recommended timeline for completion will be reviewed with the facility’s Water Safety Committee/Team. These recommendations shall consider risk to patients in conjunction with Legionella risk.

a. Recommendations shall include, but need not be limited to:

i. Inspection and maintenance changes,

ii. Equipment design and upgrades, and

iii. Recordkeeping requirements/improvements.

6. Additionally, the contractor shall identify any infrastructure improvement projects needed to eliminate and/or reduce hazards related to growth of Legionella. The project list shall include projects such as; pipe replacement, temperature and water quality sensors, cross connection locations, elimination of dead-end legs, and scald guard protection devices, but not limited to this specific list. Project lists shall include respective project scopes and budgetary cost estimates, to correct system deficiencies and maintain compliance with VA design and directive requirements to maintain safe drinking water for our patients, visitors, and staff.

C. Training:

1. Copies of all training material will be provided electronically, in an editable form, to the VA for future use. Training material will become wholly the property of the VA.

D. Web-based Data Management System:

1. The contractor shall provide a web-based data management system in accordance with the specifications to collect, analyze, and store data collected. It will store WMP documents, verification activities, corrective actions, and validation test results.

III. SPECIFIC WORK PROCESS

A. Medical Center Requirements: The following will be provided by the Medical Center:

1. Onsite Water Safety Committee/Team

i. Each facility shall determine who will oversee the plan and make key decisions with the managing of the Water Safety Management plan. Team members shall participate in the scope review meeting before the onsite hazard assessment and the final review summary and training. At a minimum this team shall include representation as prescribed in VHA Directive 1061.

ii. Each facility shall provide a knowledgeable site engineer, familiar with the water systems, to accompany the contractor during the onsite hazard assessment walk through.

2. Existing relevant operation policies, preventative maintenance schedules, water sampling, Legionella evaluation plans, and mitigation plans.

IV. DELIVERABLES. The contractor shall provide all labor, materials, and equipment necessary to complete environmental validation testing.

A. ENVIRONMENTAL VALIDATION: Testing of the building’s hot and cold-water distribution system(s) for L. pneumophila must be performed at least quarterly (once per Federal Fiscal Year quarter). The contractor shall provide environmental testing service for one year (four fiscal year quarters).

1. Water samples from at least 10 outlets on the hot water distribution system and at least 10 outlets on the cold-water distribution system must be tested from each building for each quarterly testing cycle. At the time each water sample is taken, test and document the following for each sample: water temperature, level of residual biocide, and pH.

2. If the building does not have 10 outlets on the hot water distribution system or 10 outlets on the cold-water distribution system, all outlets on the distribution system must be tested quarterly. At the time each water sample is taken, test and document the following for each sample: water temperature, level of residual biocide, and pH

3. All samples shall be properly preserved, and protocol records kept for final QA/QC.

4. The laboratory shall use Legionella 11731 ISO spread plate method for Legionella pneumophilia and non-pneumophilia species (by L. pneumophilia serogroup 1, L. pneumophilia serogroup 2-14, and non-pneumophilia).

5. The laboratory will provide a report indicating the analytical results for each sample submitted with results calculated in terms of colony forming units (CFU/ml).

6. Test results shall be submitted quarterly in “pdf” format within 10-14 days of sample receipt via email to the facility point of contact.

7. Test results shall be immediately uploaded into the web-based data management site.

8. Presumptive positive results must be called to the COR of the contract immediately and submitted in “pdf” format.

B. NON-ROUTINE LEGIONELLA TESTING:

1. The contractor shall provide up to 60 non-routine or retests per Federal Fiscal Year as requested by the COR.

2. The VA will collect these samples and ship to the lab using provided supplies and shipping labels.

3. All testing protocols, and reporting of test results for non-routine testing will be handled in the same manner as those described in section IV.A Deliverables, Environmental Validation.

V. BID LINE ITEMS – To be priced individually.

A. Base Bid –Water Safety Management Plan based on buildings listed in Appendix A.

BID LINE ITEMS:

Item Description

Line Item #

VI. TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

A. Proposal shall be evaluated on the criteria below. All evaluation factors, other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price.

B. Technical Evaluation Criteria

1. GSA Schedule Holder: GSA 03FAC

2. Experience: To be considered for award, the Prime Contractor/offeror must provide information regarding previous Water Safety Plan experience (preferably as a past prime contractor). Demonstrate experience working with a Facility Water Safety Committee. Information should include the number of plans developed over the past five (5) years, as well as specific information on the type and size of facilities for which these plans were developed. Sample Water Safety plan documents shall be provided with the submission. Past experience should demonstrate Healthcare experience addressing both cost and safety issues in potable and utility water systems. Past Experience should also identify past partnerships and sub-contractors who have worked on documents as a team. Offeror should demonstrate experience with VHA requirements and ASHRAE 188P.

3. Personnel Qualifications: To be considered for award, the offeror must be able to provide the personnel needed to complete all phases of the work stated in the statement of work, demonstrate experience working with identified sub-contractor or other partnerships on past similar work, present a management plan that indicates the availability of the personnel who will be devoted to this project, provide a schedule on how this project is anticipated for completion which meets the minimum experience and timeline requirements. In addition, the offeror will provide:

i. Prime contractor shall have Site/Account Managers that possess a Bachelor’s degree or higher in science or engineering and that are NSF certified HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) Managers. Project Manager shall be a single point of contact (POC) for the entire VISN wide contract. Person identified shall have past experience leading a qualified team to develop documents which are defensible. Project Manager shall demonstrated working knowledge of HACCP and legionella prevention as well as demonstrate competency for the development of HACCP documentation for facilities of similar size and scope.

ii. Team members shall demonstrate experienced and expertise in water systems and Legionella prevention that support a legally defensible water safety program(s).

Note: The offeror is not permitted without the approval of the COR/CO to replace key personnel originally identified to conduct the environmental compliance audit.

iii. A CDC ELITE Certified Laboratory to test for Legionella and other water borne pathogens which can provide specific detailed analysis of the findings.

4. Management Approach: At a minimum, the offeror should develop a plan showing an understanding of the tasks to be covered and the schedule for the required services. The plan will at a minimum:

i. Provide a management organization plan that among other items shows how the work will be managed to ensure the success of the contract from a professional, cost and time perspective.

ii. Provide a staff plan that among other items shows availability of staff and subcontractors to complete multi-tasked jobs.

iii. Provide a schedule which meets the required timelines identifying how and when the work will be accomplished for each of the Medical Centers.

5. Example Plan: The offeror shall provide two examples of a recent (within 3 years) water safety plan completed by the same key personnel submitted for this contract. The plan will be evaluated for technical competency, proposed team, thoroughness, compliance, organization, and ease of understanding and timeliness. Companies shall identify any alterations (lessons learned) which might be expected as a solution for this project based upon their respective past experiences and outline these details.

6. Location: The offeror shall demonstrate their and respective sub-contractors location is conducive to completing this contract and how communication will be performed as a unified team.

C. Past Performance:

1. The offeror will provide a minimum of three past performance references for work similar in cost and technical scope. Past performance references shall identify the Agency name and point of contact phone number, contract or delivery order number, a brief scope of contract, and contract value.

D. Cost Evaluation:

1. Each cost proposal shall be evaluated separately, but one contractor will be selected for the entire VISN.

Appendix A Inpatient/Lodging Buildings (Main Bid Item) 581 Huntington