Intent to sole source: Orthotics Course for Birmingham VA Healthcare System

The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 has issued a Special Notice announcing their intent to sole source an orthotics training course for the Birmingham VA Healthcare System. The notice, posted on July 15, 2025, pertains to a one-day "Hands-on Orthotics Course" that will be conducted onsite at the Birmingham VA Medical Center on August 2nd, 2025. The training is intended for twelve therapists and will be provided by the American Society of Hand Therapy (ASHT), with an estimated total cost of $3,360. The procurement falls under NAICS code 611710 (Educational Support Services) with a product service code of U099 for Education/Training-Other. The VA Network Contracting Office 07 in Augusta, GA will manage the contracting process for this sole source acquisition.

The primary objective of this training is to establish baseline education across the Birmingham and Huntsville VA Occupational Therapy teams while eliminating travel expenses through onsite delivery. The course will cover practical orthotic fabrication techniques including anti-claw, mallet, trigger finger, forearm-based ulnar gutter, forearm-based thumb spica, static progressive PIP flexion, and static progressive wrist extension orthoses. Participants will receive 8 continuing education hours (0.8 CEUs) upon completion and will demonstrate their ability to fabricate custom orthoses while learning indications, contraindications, and practical applications. Interested parties may submit capabilities statements by 2:00 PM EST on July 18, 2025, to Ashley Stewart via email, though the government emphasizes this is an informational notice rather than a competitive solicitation. The VA has determined that ASHT is the only qualified provider for this specialized in-house training, and the government retains full discretion on whether to conduct a competitive procurement process.