AN11--Notice of Intent to Sole Source

STATEMENT OF WORK

Scope: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, through the Biologic Resources Laboratory department, shall provide Veterinary Support by a doctor of veterinary medicine who has training or experience in laboratory animal science and medicine. Services shall be performed at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Veterinary Medical Unit.

Specific tasks/Deliverables:

Administrative Support

The Director of the BRL or a member of the BRL senior veterinary staff will serve as the attending veterinarian at the JBVAMC and in that context serve as a member of the IACUC.

Provide veterinary pre-reviews of Animal Component of Research Protocols (ACORPs)/protocols.

Every 6 months perform semi-annual program and facility reviews/inspections.

Meet with the Institutional Official on a semi-annual basis to review semi-annual program and facility reviews/inspections.

Assist with the review, development and implementation of IACUC and husbandry SOPs, Policies and Procedures.

Assist the IACUC Coordinator with IACUC agendas, minutes, and investigator correspondences.

Oversee/assist the IACUC Coordinator with the submissions of annual reports to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International and VA Central Office.

Oversee submission of OLAW Letter of Assurance and AAALAC International accreditation submission documents.

Oversee/provide guidance on vivarium facility construction/renovation projects.

Conduct at least one onsite visit per month to address administrative issues.

Daily availability via phone or email to address administrative issues that need immediate attention.

Provide advice and guidance on all aspects of an AAALAC International Animal Care and Use Program.

Veterinary Care Support:

Conduct weekly site visit to assess the health of all animals in the facility.

Oversee and coordinate the management of all JBVAMC disease outbreaks.

Coordinate the JBVAMC sentinel program.

Coordinate the quarantine and/or rederivation of all animals from non-approved vendors at UIC as appropriate.

Review and advise on all JBVAMC colony health reports both internal and external (reports from non-approved vendors).

Provide after hours, weekend and holiday emergency veterinary coverage.

Provide an approved facility for housing of animals in case of emergency impacting animal welfare and/or well-being.

Husbandry Support:

Evaluate husbandry weekly.

Meet with husbandry staff at least monthly.

Evaluate and advise on vendors and their products integral in the operation of a vivarium such as cages, feed, bedding and detergents.

VA investigators housing animals at UIC and/or VA animals housed at UIC would be subject to UIC internal investigator per diem rates unless otherwise determined by the UIC Institutional Official.

QA Program Support:

Provide technical support and/or training in the collection and culture of Replicate Organism Detection and Counting (RODAC) plates from cage equipment and rooms after sanitation and cages after sterilization and/or through the use of newer technologies such as ATP bioluminescence assay.

Provide technical support and/or training in the collection and culture of samples for QA purposes from food, bedding and water.

Provide technical support and/or training in the use of a sentinel-free, soiled bedding sampling system for the detection of murine pathogens through the use of contact media and PCR. UIC will submit samples on behalf of the VA.

Provide technical support and/or training in collection and submission of biologic samples as needed to assess colony/animal health status.

Education/Training:

Provide access of JBVAMC staff to the UIC AALAS certification training program.

Train PI s and staff as requested by the PI and/or determined needed during the protocol review process and/or by the IACUC.

Conduct meetings with VA investigators of the JBVAMC on topics as determined by the IACUC and/or VA administration.

Provide access of JBVAMC investigators to UIC rodent training programs and/or educational seminars.

Hours of Operations

Normal hours of coverage are Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Central, excluding holidays. All services will be performed during normal hours of coverage unless requested or approved by COR or designee.

Holidays include:

New Years Day Labor Day

Martin Luther King Day Columbus Day

Presidents Day Veterans Day

Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day

Juneteenth Christmas Day

Independence Day

And any other day specifically designated as a national holiday by the President of the United States.

Place of Performance

Jesse Brown VA Medical Center

820 S. Damen Ave.

Chicago, IL 60612-3728

Period of Performance

Base Year: 1 February 2025 through 31 January 2026

Option Year One: 1 February 2026 through 31 January 2027

Option Year Two: 1 February 2027 through 31 January 2028

Option Year Three: 1 February 2028 through 31 January 2029

Option Year Four: 1 February 2029 through 31 January 2030

Performance Monitoring

Various methods exist to monitor performance. The COR shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the performance monitoring of this contract.

Direct Observation Can be performed periodically or through 100% surveillance.

Periodic Inspection Evaluate outcomes on a periodic basis. Inspections may be scheduled daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, or unscheduled, as required.

Acceptable Performance the Government shall document positive performance. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action.

Unacceptable Performance

When unacceptable performance occurs the COR shall inform the contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR file.

When the COR determines formal written communication is required the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) and present it to the contractor s program manager.

The contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the contractor s corrective action plan to determine acceptability.

Any CDRs may become part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the CO.

Security Requirements Contractor will not have access to VA sensitive information, patient records, or data.

Government-Furnished Equipment None.

Other Pertinent Information or Special Considerations All work shall be performed by doctors of veterinary medicine who possess experience in laboratory animal science and medicine.

Required Registration with Contractor Performance Assessment System (CPARS)

As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 42.15, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates contractor past performance on all contracts that exceed the thresholds outlined in FAR Part 42.15, and shares those evaluations with other Federal Government contract specialists and procurement officials through the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). The FAR requires that the contractor be provided an opportunity to comment on past performance evaluations prior to the posting of each report. To fulfill this requirement VA uses an online database, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). The CPARS database information is uploaded to the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) database, which is available to all Federal agencies.

Each contractor whose contract award is estimated to exceed the thresholds outlined in FAR Part 42.15 is required to provide to the contracting officer contact information for the contractor s representative with their response to the solicitation. The contractor is responsible to notify the contracting officer of any change to the contractor s representative during the contract performance period. Contractor s representative contact information consists of a name and email address.

The Government will register the contract within thirty days after contract award. For contracts with a period of one year or less, the contracting officer will perform a single evaluation when the contract is complete. For contracts exceeding one year, the contracting officer will evaluate the contractor s performance annually. Intermediate reports will be filed each year until the last year of the contract, when the final report will be completed. Each report shall be forwarded in CPARS to the contractor s designated representative for comment. The contractor s representative will have thirty days to submit any comments and return the report to the VA contracting officer. Failure by the contractor to respond within those thirty days will result in the Government s evaluation being placed on file in PPIRS without contractor s comments.