Questions_Responses_Updated_W81K00-23-R-0005_0002.pdf

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - W81K00-23-R-0005

Amendment 0002

Updated 5 January 2023

Q1. Are there incumbents on the current contract? If so, are all positions filled?

A1. This requirement is a follow on to contract W81K00-18-C-0003. The current contract has a total of 19 FTEs with a 40% fill rate. 9 of 19 positions filled.

Q2. Can the Government provide the Anniversary dates of the incumbent CPs to enable us to provide our pricing base on the Anniversary dates for Vacation time?

A2. There are currently 9 of 19 positions filled. A list of incumbents with their

POC information will be provided post award to the successful offeror.

Tenure and Anniversary information:

1. 2/14/22

2. 1/22/18

3. 1/8/2019

4. 1/3/2018

5. 9/19/2022

6. 12/1/2021

7. 2/17/2022

8. 12/1/2017

9. 6/2/2022

Q3. Can the Government provide the current Contract Value?

A3. In 2017 the contract was awarded for $9,931,146.40. The current contract value to date is $9,948,371.67.

Q4. Referring to Compensation plan template, Do we have to submit a consolidated plan for all 20 FTEs in a single Excel sheet or for each FTE separately.

A4. You are not required to do one for each FTE. The proposed compensation plan is for 20 FTE - Nurse Case Managers as identified in this solicitation. This requirement annotated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) under Technical

Exhibit 2 the standard qualifications as a minimum requirement for this labor category -Nurse Case Manager. All FTEs supporting this requirement will be classified as Nurse Case Managers. Please refer to Attachment 1_Instructions to

Offerors_Evaluation Criteria for guidance.

Q5. SF 1449 document, for Line item 1 shows 364800 instead of 36480 hours. Please clarify.

A5. The government has executed Amendment 0001 to correct the quantity for line item 0001A from 364,800 to 36,480.

Q6. Referring to pricing template: Is the template correct as there is a formula in CLIN field (cell J9) only and not in Sub-CLIN?

A6. The pricing template has been corrected. See amendment 0001.

Q7. Do we have to manually enter the number of Hours (consolidated sum of cell H10 and cell H11) in cell H9. Please clarify.

A7. The pricing template has been corrected. See amendment 0001. Offerors are responsible to ensure that all the cells and formula calculations are correct.

Offerors are advised to use absolute values.

Q8. Also is Price of CLIN equal to Sum of SUB CLINS.

A8. The pricing template has been corrected. See amendment 0001. Offerors are responsible to ensure that all the cells and formula calculations are correct.

Offerors are advised to use absolute values.

Q9. Will an extension be considered? With the RFP being released right before the

Christmas/New Year holidays we are nervous POC's needed for PPQ's and pricing tasks might not be given sufficient time to complete due to taking vacations/leave this time of year.

A9. The Proposal and PPQ due date have been extended to 18 January – 2:00 PM

(CST – San Antonio, Texas). Offerors can still use the PPQ form that was provided with the initial solicitation. PPQs will be accepted till the solicitation close date/time. See Amendment 0002.

Q10. The solicitation has 3 different job descriptions provided below for the different labor categories. Do we know the number of resources to be staffed under each of the focused categories or is it a general qualification description required for all

20 FTE resources?

• REGISTERED NURSE= # of FTE's?

• REGISTERED NURSE - CASE MANAGER= # of FTE's?

• REGISTERED NURSE – REFERRAL MANAGEMENT CENTER= # of FTE's?

A10. As noted in the PWS Technical Exhibit 2, the standard/minimum qualifications provided for the labor category Nurse Case Manager are deemed acceptable to support this requirement. It is a general qualification description that could be used to fill the FTEs. The government is not specifying the number of resources to be staffed for the focused categories.

Q11. Are resumes expected with proposal responses? Resumes are not mentioned specifically, but evaluation criteria implies that personal qualifications might be needed to provide clear, concise and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiation of the validity of stated claims. Responses to this solicitation shall strictly adhere to the requirements set forth in the solicitation."

A11. Resumes are not required as part of the RFP, the Performance Work

Statement, Technical Exhibit 2 is providing the offeror the necessary skills, experience and minimum qualifications needed to support the classification/labor category Nurse Case Manager. Please refer to Attachment 1_Instructions to

Offeror.

Q12. Are there currently any provisional or temporary staff assigned to this project? Does the government prefer to retain the current staff if possible?

A12. It is unknown to the government if the current contractor is utilizing provisional or temporary staff. The successful offeror will be required to staff 20

Nurse Case Managers to support the Department of Quality Services and the

Department of Surgery, for Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

It is up to the offeror, to determine their strategy to provide the required services/FTEs.

Q13. Please confirm if past performance from a subcontractor can be submitted?

A13. The past performance of a subcontractor will only be considered if it meets the requirements outlined in the solicitation. See Attachment 1_Instructions to

Offeror (addendum 52.212-1 & 52.212-2).

Q14. Please confirm that the pricing volume is inclusive of Attachment 2-Pricing

Worksheet (Excel Workbook) or is the government also expecting a price narrative?

A14. Please refer to Attachment 1_Instructions to Offerors_Evaluation Criteria, page 4 which states “The Offeror shall submit proposed pricing for all contract line-item numbers identified in the solicitation on the Excel spreadsheet provided as

Attachment 2. The Pricing Worksheet shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel format with all formulas intact. Offerors shall ensure the formulas and totals accurately reflect the pricing data proposed. Provide total pricing for the base period and each option period, as well as a grand total of the entire proposal.” A price narrative is not required.

Q15. Is there currently an incumbent performing this work, or is this a solicitation for new work?

A15. This is follow-on requirement. See A1 above.

Q16. Would the government like for contractors to submit resumes with their proposals?

A16. Resumes are not required as part of the offeror’s proposal. Technical Exhibit

2 in the Performance Work Statement is provided to give the offeror the standard

(minimum) qualifications, skills and experience for the labor category Nurse Case

Manager. Please refer to Attachment 1_Instructions to Offeror.

Q17. Do all Evaluation Factors weigh equally or for example, does price weigh more heavily than past performance?

A17. As annotated in Attachment 1_ Instructions to the Offeror page 5. “Award will be made using the Best-Value Tradeoff source selection process. Past

Performance is significantly more important than Compensation Plan, and both are more important than price when combined. However, price could become the determining factor, if the proposals are determined to be essentially equal.”

Q18. Are there incumbents?

A18. Yes.

Q19. If so, how many vacancies are there?

A19. Current contract has a 40% fill rate for 19 FTEs. 9 of 19 positions filled. See A1 above.

Q20. If so, can you provide tenure information for the incumbent HCWs?

A20. See A2 above.

Q21. If so, how many are working on a schedule differing from the normal hours of operation for the out-patient clinics (PWS 1.4.1)

A21. The government is unable to provide this information. The schedule is developed based on need. All schedules will be generated IAW the PWS.

Q22. The Instructions state that pricing should not be included in any other volume than Volume IV. Attachment 3 calculates billable rates. If Offeror submits Attachment with the billable rates, are we in compliance with the Gov’t requirement for pricing only in Volume IV?

A22. Yes, that would not cause you to be non-compliant. Please refer to Attachment 1_Instructions to Offeror. “Attachment 3 is hereby provided as a sample to assist Offerors in how to breakout the Base Rate + Fringe to equal the Total Compensation Hourly Rate. Offerors are not required to use this sample;

however, Offerors are cautioned to ensure that the information presented in Attachment 3 is included with their compensation plan to show the Total Compensation Hourly Rate (Base + Fringe).”

Q23. Will the Gov’t utilize rate equitable adjustments to provide for Wage Determination changes?

A23. Any equitable adjustments due to Wage Determination changes shall be directed to the administering Contracting Officer post award IAW the FAR.

Q24. Can the Gov’t provide the Wage Determination Occupation Code and Title for which the Nurse Case Manager position would correspond?

A24. It is up to the Offeror to map/propose occupation codes based on the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS), SCA Directory of Occupations and salary market research for the service area. Contractors are required to ensure their proposals are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations to include the Service Contact Act Wage Determinations and Executive Orders.

Q25. Attachment 2 provides CLINS for OT hours, but references hours will not exceed 80 in a two-week period in the PWS (1.4.1 7 1.4.2). Are these hours under the OT CLIN for hours exceeding 40 in each week or does the Gov’t provide this CLIN for another scheduling/shift scenario?

A25. If deemed necessary, hours exceeding 40 hours in a week shall be billed under the OT CLIN.

Q26. Will nurses be working only in-patient or only out-patient, or will they need to be prepared to work either?

A26. Nurses shall be prepared to work either depending on assigned shift.

Q27. Does the 1st page of the Attachment 6 PPI form count towards the 3-page limit for each PPI form? It seems to just contain instructions.

A27. The PPI is a questionnaire. Page 1 provides the instructions and is not included in the page count. Pages 2-3 (Questions A – L) are to be completed by the offeror.

Q28. If the contractor’s government POC has already filled out a PPQ form in prior years for one of the past performance examples, is the contractor still required to submit

Attachment 7 to our government POC?

A28. PPQs previously signed within the last 12-months from the date of the solicitation close will be permitted. The Government reserves the right to verify all information and contact the POC that completed the PPQ.

Q29. We are aware that Attachment 1 says “Contractor Performance Assessment

Reports (CPARs) will also be accepted”. However, will earlier PPQ forms also be an acceptable substitute, similar to the way CPARs are accepted as a substitute? And if so, will inclusion of those PPQs count towards page count?

A29. PPQs previously signed within the last 12-months from the date of the solicitation close will be permitted. The Government reserves the right to verify all information and contact the POC that completed the PPQ.

Each Past Performance Information (PPI) Sheet is limited to 3 pages per project.

Including PPQs with your submission will not count towards the PPI page count.

Q30. Can the government please confirm that this is a Firm Fixed Price contract and not a Time & Materials contract?

A30. The contract type is Firm Fixed Price CLINS.

Q31. Is this effort fully staffed with 20 FTEs? If not, how many FTEs are missing and from which labor category?

A31. See response A1 above.

Q32. Is the 20 FTEs a firm requirement or an estimate?

A32. This solicitation is for the acquisition is 20 FTE Nurse Case Managers.

Please reference to the Performance Work Statement and Solicitation.