rfp-2026-nhvh-01-dental--1-.pdf

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

NH VETERANS HOME

Request for Proposals for: Dental Services

RFP-2026-NHVH-01-DENTAL

Release Date: 04/03/2026

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 1 – Overview and Schedule 3

Section 2 – Special Provisions and Scope 4

Section 3 – Contract Terms and Conditions 6

Section 4 – Request for Proposal Process 6

Section 5 – RFP Terms and Conditions 8

Section 6 – Evaluation 11

Section 7 – Process for Submitting a Proposal 13

Section 8 – Proposal Content and Requirements 14

Appendix A P37 Standard Terms and Conditions of the State of NH

Appendix B Transmittal Letter

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SECTION 1 – Overview and Schedule

A. Summary

The New Hampshire Veterans Home (NHVH) seeks to engage an independent contractor to provide onsite comprehensive dental services for its residents. These services will include, but are not limited to, dental examinations, oral prophylaxis, scaling, fabrication and repair of dentures, restorations, oral hygiene instruction and extractions within the scope of general dental practice.

The resulting contract will be for the term of up to (3) years from the date of approval of the Governor and Executive Council or July 1, 2026 (whichever is later). The contract term may be extended by an additional term of 2 years at the sole option of the Agency, subject to the parties’ prior written agreement and required government approvals including Governor and Executive Council.

B. Schedule

The following table provides a Schedule of Events for this RFP through contract finalization and approval. The Agency reserves the right to amend this Schedule at its sole discretion and at any time through a published Addendum.

EVENT DATE LOCAL

TIME

RFP Released (Advertisement) April 3, 2026 Vendor Inquiry Period Ends April 10, 2026 3:00 PM Final Agency Responses to Inquiries April 14, 2026 4:00 PM Proposal Due April 24, 2026 4:00 PM

C. Description of Agency or Program issuing the Request for Proposals

The New Hampshire Veterans Home, located in Tilton, is a state-operated long-term care facility dedicated to serving honorably discharged veterans. It provides a safe, supportive environment with a mission to deliver high-quality, resident-centered care with dignity and respect. The home offers comprehensive medical, nursing, and rehabilitative services alongside therapeutic recreation programs to all residents, including a life enhanced dementia unit. On site independent dental services program is offered to all residents through the NH Veterans Home.

In this RFP, “Agency” means the NH Veterans Home. "Vendor" means a person or entity who offers products or services for sale. "Selected vendor" means the qualified Bidder which has been identified by the Agency as having received the best score for its proposal according to the criteria set forth in this RFP.

D. Vendor Instructions

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Interested vendors must read the entire RFP and submit the required documents in the manner specified in the RFP. Vendors are responsible for reviewing the most updated information related to this RFP before submitting proposals.

SECTION 2 – Special Provisions and Scope of Work

A. Special Provisions

1. Dentist represents and warrants that he has obtained and maintained in force all licenses and permits required by federal, state and local authorities for the performance of dental services.

2. This agreement may be cancelled by either party at any time without cause by giving a 90 day notice in writing to the other party.

3. Treatment of any injury sustained by a member or patient, which in the opinion of the Commandant, was caused by such member or patient’s wanton or reckless conduct, will not be covered by this contract. These incidents will be treated as personal liabilities of the member or patient for the services rendered.

4. Contractor is aware of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of

1996 (HIPPA) and agrees to comply with its regulations concerning privacy and security.

5. Insurance and Bond: Subparagraph 14.1.1 of the General Provisions of this contract is deleted and the following subparagraph is added: “14.1.1 professional liability insurance:

• Professional liability insurance in amounts of not less than $1,000,000 per claim and

$3,000,000 per incident.

The contract and all obligations of the parties there under, shall become effective upon approval of Governor and Council or July 1, 2026, whichever is later, and shall be completed in their entirety prior to a specified date.

B. Scope of Work

The New Hampshire Veterans Home proposes to enter into an agreement with a contractor to provide mobile dental services to all residents within the facility.

1. The Dentist shall provide the following services:

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a) The NHVH hereby engages the Dentist and the Dentist hereby agrees to service the NHVH as an independent contractor and comply with the standards of professional practice of the Department of Health of the State of New Hampshire and the American Dental Association.

b) The Dentist shall perform those services customarily performed by a dentist engaged in general practice and have dental care responsibility for patients treated by him. The services are limited to examination, oral prophylaxis, scaling, fabrication and repair of dentures, restorations, oral hygiene instruction, and extractions within the limits of general practice. Compensation for dental services not provided by the Corporation shall be the responsibility of the NHVH.

c) The Dentist shall provide such dental equipment and supplies necessary for the provision of the dental services under the terms of this Agreement. At all times the Dentist shall remain the sole owner of said equipment.

d) The Dentist shall provide professional staff licensed by the State of New

Hampshire for the provision of the dental services under this Agreement.

e) The Dentist shall pay laboratory fees incurred in the course of services provided under the terms of the Agreement.

f) The Dentist shall develop written dental services and oral hygiene policies and practices for the care of the patients.

g) The Dentist shall assure that a current record of the patient’s dental status is included in the medical record within 14 days of admission, and that any emergency needs are met within 4 days of the initial resident assessment.

h) The Dentist shall provide at least two in-services for nursing and other appropriate personnel in carrying out the oral hygiene and dental services policies and practices per year.

i) The Dentist shall assure that dental care prescribed shall be within the physical and mental capacity of the patient to receive it.

j) The Dentist shall establish and maintain annual examinations and routine and emergency dental care.

k) The Dentist shall maintain a detailed list of both routine and emergency dental services.

l) The Dentist shall maintain adequate dental records of all dental care given as a part of the patient’s medical record.

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m) The Dentist shall comply with reasonable sanitary standards required by the Department of Health of the State of New Hampshire.

n) The Dentist shall provide approximately 26 dental service sessions per year.

These sessions will be scheduled at least 2 per month. A session is a minimum of 4 hours and a maximum of 5 hours.

o) A Hygienist will provide approximately 12 dental visits per year for the purpose of patient prophylaxis, staff education, patient screenings and other administrative tasks. These visits will be on an alternating schedule with the Dentist.

p) The Dentist will insure that malpractice insurance is maintained by his professional staff, in the amount of $1 million/$3 million minimum.

q) The Dentist agrees to follow the non-discrimination policy of the NHVH, to discharge its obligations to treat all patients and to employ any and all persons without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sponsor or disability.

r) The Dentist shall make available, upon written request, the contract and books, documents and records of such Dentist, which are deemed necessary as determined by the Dentist to certify the nature and extent of expenses.

s) The Dentist will provide the attending physician with consultations, as necessary and appropriate for any resident examined by the Dentist.

2. The Dentist shall conduct his work so as to interfere as little as possible with State business, determine the State’s normal working conditions and activities in progress and shall conduct the work in the least disruptive manner.

3. The Dentist shall sign in and out every day as well as wear a contractors ID badge, provided by State.

4. Unsatisfactory response to any or all of the listed services or requirements will be a basis for immediate termination of the contract.

5. The New Hampshire Veterans Home reserves the right to terminate this contract at any given time with a 90 day written notice.

6. The contract and all obligations of the parties there under, shall become effective upon acceptance by the State and shall be completed in their entirety prior to a specified date (Block 1.6). Any work undertaken by the contractor prior to the effective date shall be at his sole risk and, in the event that the contract shall not become effective, the State shall be under no obligation to reimburse the Contractor for any such work. The term of the contract shall be effective upon Governor and Executive Council Approval through June 30, 2029. With the option of extending for one (1) two (2) year period.

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SECTION 3 -- Contract Terms and Conditions

A. Non-Exclusive Contract

Any resulting Contract from this RFP will be a non-exclusive Contract. The Agency reserves the right, at its discretion, to retain other contractors to provide any of the services or deliverables identified in this RFP or make an award by item, part or portion of an item, group of items, or total Proposal if the terms of this contract are not met.

B. Award

If the Agency decides to award a contract as a result of this RFP process, any award is contingent upon approval of the contract by the Governor and Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire and upon continued appropriation of funding for the contract.

C. Standard Contract Terms

The Agency will require the selected vendor to execute a contract using the Standard Terms and Conditions of the State of New Hampshire (Form P-37) which is attached as Appendix A. In no event is a vendor to submit its own standard contract terms and conditions as a replacement for the State’s terms in response to this solicitation.

The terms of this RFP and the selected vendor’s Proposal will be used to form the terms of any resulting contract. The resulting contract may incorporate some or all of the selected vendor’s Proposal. References in the P-37 to Exhibits A, B and C are references to the required structure of any resulting contract (Exhibit A – Special Provisions/Amendments to the P-37, Exhibit B – Scope of Services, and Exhibit C – Bidders Required Information and Payment Terms) and are not references to sections of this RFP.

To the extent that a vendor believes that exceptions to the contract terms in Appendix A will be necessary for the vendor to enter into the contract, the vendor must note those issues during the Vendor Inquiry Period, as further described Section 4B.

SECTION 4 –Request for Proposal Process

A. Agency Point of Contact/Restriction of Contact with Agency Employees

The sole point of contact for this RFP, from the RFP issue date until the approval of the resulting contract by the Governor and Executive Council is:

Susan Glover, Chief Financial Officer 603-527-4847, Susan.M.Glover@nhvh.nh.gov

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From the date of release of this RFP until an award is made and announced regarding the selection of a vendor, all communication with personnel employed by or under contract with the Agency regarding this RFP is prohibited unless first approved by the RFP Sole Point of Contact.

Agency employees have been directed not to hold conferences and/or discussions concerning this RFP with any potential contractor during the selection process, unless otherwise authorized by the RFP Sole Point of Contact. Vendors may be disqualified for violating this restriction on communications.

B. Vendor Inquiries

All inquiries concerning this RFP, including but not limited to, requests for clarifications, questions, any changes to the RFP, and any exceptions to the contract terms in Appendix A, including the Form P-37, shall be submitted via email to the Agency Point of Contact specified above. Inquiries must be received by the end of vendor inquiry period (see Schedule of Events herein).

The vendor must identify the RFP name and the number and include the vendor’s name, telephone number, and e-mail address.

The Agency will issue responses to properly submitted inquiries on or before the date specified in the Schedule of Events; however, this date is subject to change at the Agency’s discretion.

The Agency may consolidate and/or paraphrase questions for sufficiency and clarity. The Agency may, at its discretion, amend this RFP on its own initiative or in response to issues raised by inquiries, as it deems appropriate. In response to requested exceptions to P37, the Agency will review requested exceptions and accept, reject or note that it is open to negotiation of the proposed exception at its sole discretion. Questions about or requested exceptions to the RFP, Form P-37 and/or any relevant attachments not raised during the inquiry period are waived. Oral statements, representations, clarifications, or modifications concerning the RFP shall not be binding upon the Agency. Official responses by the Agency will be made only in writing by the process described above. Vendors shall be responsible for reviewing the most updated information related to this RFP before submitting a proposal.

SECTION 5 – RFP Terms and Conditions

A. Debarment

Vendors who are ineligible to bid on proposals, bids or quotes issued by the Department of Administrative Services, Division of Procurement and Support Services pursuant to the provisions of RSA 21-I:11-c shall not be considered eligible for an award under this RFP.

B. Proposal Preparation Cost

By submitting a proposal, a vendor agrees that in no event shall the Agency be either responsible for or held liable for any costs incurred by a vendor in the preparation of or in connection with the Proposal, or for work performed prior to the Effective Date of a resulting Contract.

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C. Validity of Proposal

Proposals must be valid for one hundred and eighty (180) days following the deadline for submission of Proposals in Schedule of Events, or until the Effective Date of any resulting Contract, whichever is later.

D. RFP Addendum

The Agency reserves the right to amend this RFP at its discretion, prior to the Proposal submission deadline. In the event of an addendum to this RFP, the Agency, at its sole discretion, may extend the Proposal submission deadline, as it deems appropriate.

E. Non-Collusion

The vendor’s signature on a Proposal submitted in response to this RFP guarantees that the prices, terms and conditions, and work quoted have been established without collusion with other Vendors and without effort to preclude the Agency from obtaining the best possible competitive Proposal.

F. Property of the Agency

All material received in response to this RFP shall become the property of the Agency and will not be returned to the vendor. Upon contract award, the Agency reserves the right to use any information presented in any Proposal.

G. Proposal Confidentiality

Unless necessary for the approval of a contract, the substance of a proposal must remain confidential until the Effective Date of any Contract resulting from this RFP. A vendor’s disclosure or distribution of Proposals other than to the Agency may be grounds for disqualification.

H. Public Disclosure

The information submitted in response to this RFP (including all materials submitted in connection with it, such as attachments, exhibits, addenda, and presentations), any resulting contract, and information provided during the contractual relationship may be subject to public disclosure under Right-to-Know law, including RSA 91-A. In addition, in accordance with RSA 9-F:1, any contract entered into as a result of this RFP will be made accessible to the public online via the website Transparent NH (http://www.nh.gov/transparentnh/).

Confidential, commercial or financial information may be exempt from public disclosure under RSA 91-A:5, IV. If a vendor believes any information submitted in response to this RFP should be kept confidential, the vendor must specifically identify that information where it appears in the submission in a manner that draws attention to the designation and must mark/stamp each page of the materials that the vendor claims must be exempt from disclosure as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Vendors must also provide a letter to the person listed as the point of contact for this RFP, identifying the specific page number and section of the information you consider to be confidential, commercial or financial and providing your rationale for each http://www.nh.gov/transparentnh/

RFP-2026-NHVH-01-DENTAL P a g e 10 | 14 designation. Marking or designating an entire proposal, attachment or section as confidential shall neither be accepted nor honored by the State. Vendors must also provide a separate copy of the full and complete document, fully redacting those portions and shall note on the applicable page or pages that the redacted portion or portions are “confidential.”

Submissions which do not conform to these instructions by failing to include a redacted copy (if necessary), by failing to include a letter specifying the rationale for each redaction, by failing to designate the redactions in the manner required by these instructions, or by including redactions which are contrary to these instructions or operative law may be rejected by the State as not conforming to the requirements of the proposal.

Pricing, which includes but is not limited to, the administrative costs and other performance guarantees in Proposals or any subsequently awarded contract shall be subject to public disclosure regardless of whether it is marked as confidential.

Notwithstanding a vendor’s designations, the State is obligated under the Right-to-Know law to conduct an independent analysis of the confidentiality of the information submitted in a proposal.

If a request is made to the State to view or receive copies of any portion of the proposal, the State shall first assess what information it is obligated to release. The State will then notify you that a request has been made, indicate what, if any, information the State has assessed is confidential and will not be released, and specify the planned release date of the remaining portions of the proposal. To halt the release of information by the State, a vendor must initiate and provide to the State, prior to the date specified in the notice, a court action in the Superior Court of the State of New Hampshire, at its sole expense, seeking to enjoin the release of the requested information.

By submitting a proposal, vendors acknowledge and agree that:

• The State may disclose any and all portions of the proposal or related materials which are not marked as confidential and/or which have not been specifically explained in the letter to the person identified as the point of contact for this RFP;

• The State is not obligated to comply with a vendor’s designations regarding confidentiality and must conduct an independent analysis to assess the confidentiality of the information submitted in your proposal; and

• The State may, unless otherwise prohibited by court order, release the information on the date specified in the notice described above without any liability to a vendor.

I. Electronic Posting of RFP Results and Resulting Contract

At the time of receipt of proposals, the Agency will post the number of responses received with no further information. No later than five (5) business days prior to submission of a contract to the Department of Administrative Services, the Agency will post the ranks or scores of each responding vendor. In the event that the contract does not require Governor & Executive Council approval, the Agency will disclose the rank or score at least 5 business days before final approval of the contract.

Pursuant to RSA 91-A and RSA 9-F:1, the Secretary of State will post to the public any document submitted to G&C for approval, including contracts resulting from this RFP, and posts

RFP-2026-NHVH-01-DENTAL P a g e 11 | 14 those documents on its website (https://sos.nh.gov/administration/miscellaneous/governor-executive-council/). By submitting a proposal, vendors acknowledge and agree that, in accordance with the above mentioned statutes and policies, (and regardless of whether any specific request is made to view any document relating to this RFP), any contract resulting from this RFP that is submitted to G&C for approval will be made accessible to the public online.

J. Non-Commitment

Notwithstanding any other provision of this RFP, this RFP does not commit the Agency to award a contract. The Agency reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reject any and all proposals, or any portions thereof, at any time; to cancel this RFP; and to solicit new proposals under a new acquisition process.

K. Ethical Requirements

From the time this RFP is published until a contract is awarded, no vendor shall offer or give, directly or indirectly, any gift, expense reimbursement, or honorarium, as defined by RSA 15-B, to any elected official, public official, public employee, constitutional official, or family member of any such official or employee who will or has selected, evaluated, or awarded an RFP, or similar submission. Any vendor that violates RSA 21-G:38 shall be subject to prosecution for an offense under RSA 640:2. Any vendor who has been convicted of an offense based on conduct in violation of this section, which has not been annulled, or who is subject to a pending criminal charge for such an offense, shall be disqualified from bidding on the RFP, or similar request for submission and every such vendor shall be disqualified from bidding on any RFP or similar request for submission issued by any state agency. A vendor that was disqualified under this section because of a pending criminal charge which is subsequently dismissed, results in an acquittal, or is annulled, may notify the department of administrative services, which shall note that information on the list maintained on the state’s internal intranet system, except in the case of annulment, the information, shall be deleted from the list.

L. Challenges to Identification of Selected Vendor

Within 5 business days of the Agency’s posting of the rank or score on its website, vendors may, in accordance with RSA 21-G:37, request that the agency review its selection process. The request must be in writing and must specify all points on which the vendor believes the agency erred in its process and shall contain such argument in support of its position as the vendor seeks to present. In its request for review, a vendor shall not submit, and an agency will not accept nor consider, any substantive information that was not included in the original proposal. The agency will respond to the request within 5 business days of its receipt.

SECTION 6 – Evaluation of Proposals

A. Criteria for Evaluation and Scoring

The Agency will evaluate each responsive Proposal using a scoring scale of 100 points, which will be distributed as set forth in the table below.

https://sos.nh.gov/administration/miscellaneous/governor-executive-council/ https://sos.nh.gov/administration/miscellaneous/governor-executive-council/

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CATEGORIES POINTS

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL with the following potential maximum scores for each Technical Proposal category;

Annual and Total price 25 Qualifications, Compliance and Reference Verification 25 Experience with previous on-site services as contracted vendor 25 Experience with geriatric patients 25

TOTAL MAXIMUM POINTS 100

The Agency will select a vendor based upon the criteria and standards contained in this RFP and from applying the weighting in this section. Oral interviews and reference checks, to the extent they are utilized by the Agency, will be used to refine and finalize scores.

If the Agency, decides to make an award based on these evaluations, the Agency will notify the selected vendor(s). Should the Agency be unable to reach agreement with the selected vendor(s) during Contract discussions, the Agency may then undertake Contract discussions with the next preferred vendor and so on, or the Agency may reject all proposals, cancel this RFP, or solicit new Proposals under a new acquisition process.

B. Planned Evaluations Steps

The Agency plans to use the following process:

• Step 1. Initial screening to ensure that the Proposals are in compliance with submission requirements;

• Step 2. Verification of Qualifications and Experience/References

• Step 3. Scoring of Annual and Total Price

• Final Selection: Select the highest scoring vendor(s) and begin contract execution.

C. Step 1: Initial Screening

The Agency will conduct an initial screening to verify vendor compliance with the proposal submission requirements set forth in Section 8. The Agency may waive or offer a limited opportunity to cure immaterial deviations from the RFP requirements if it is determined to be in the best interest of the State.

D. Step 2: Verification of Qualifications and Experience/References

The Agency will establish an evaluation team to review for compliance of the minimum requirements. This evaluation team will then review the technical proposals and give a preliminary score to the technical proposals under the guidelines.

E. Step 3: Price Proposal Review

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Verification that vendor agrees to invoice the NH Veterans Home at the set monthly rate in the proposal.

F. No Best and Final Offer

The Proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms which the vendor can offer. There will be no best and final offer procedure.

G. Final Selection

The Agency will conduct a final selection based on the final evaluation of the proposals and begin contract discussions with the selected vendor(s).

Upon agency selection, additional requirements including State of New Hampshire, Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Authority, Proof of Insurance, OIG Exclusion Check Disclosure Statement, Conviction Disclosure Form, Certification regarding Debarment, Suspension and other Responsibility Matters, Business Associate Agreement.

H. Rights of the Agency in Accepting and Evaluating Proposals

The Agency reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to:

• Make independent investigations in evaluating proposals;

• Request additional information to clarify elements of a proposal;

• Waive minor or immaterial deviations from the RFP and contract requirements, if determined to be in the best interest of the State;

• Omit any planned evaluation step if, in the Agency’s view, the step is not needed;

• Reject any and all proposals at any time; and

• Open contract discussions with the second highest scoring vendor and so on, if the

Agency is unable to reach an agreement on contract terms with the higher scoring vendor(s).

SECTION 7 – Process for Submitting a Proposal

A. Proposal Submission, Deadline, and Location Instructions

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be received no later than the Proposal Due Date and time specified in the Schedule of Events, herein.

Late submissions will not be accepted and will be returned to the vendors unopened. Delivery of the Proposals shall be at the vendor’s expense. The time of receipt shall be considered when a Proposal has been officially documented by the Agency, in accordance with its established policies, as having been received at the location designated below. The Agency accepts no responsibility for damaged, mislabeled, or undeliverable mailed or emailed proposals. Any damage that may occur due to shipping shall be the vendor’s responsibility.

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Proposals must be clearly marked as follows:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

RESPONSE TO RFP: RFP-2026-NHVH-01-DENTAL

Physical Proposals

Physical Proposals must be addressed to:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

NH Veterans Home 135 Winter Street, Tilton, NH 03276

Physical Submissions shall include 4 clearly identified copies of the proposal including required attachments

Electronic Proposals Electronic Proposals must be addressed to:

TO: Susan.M.Glover@nhvh.nh.gov CC: Holly.L.OConnell@nhvh.nh.gov Subject line must include: RESPONSE TO RFP: RFP-2026-NHVH-01-DENTAL Electronic Submissions must be submitted using the following criteria:

a. Searchable PDF Format

b. Files must be less than 10MB in size.

SECTION 8 – Proposal Content and Requirements

Proposals shall follow the below format and provide the required information set forth below:

Maximum 10 pages, typed

• Cover page (optional)

• Technical Proposal:

o Completed Appendix B Transmittal Letter and Vendor Information o Company profile, vendor references, verification of experience and pricing

• Litigation Identify and describe any claims made by clients during the last ten (10) years.

Discuss merits, current status and, if available, outcome of each matter

• Other attachments as applicable (licensing documentation, etc)