Q201--VISN 8 NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ZONES DME REQUIREMENTS

DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOR VISN 8 NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ZONES RFQ 36C24822Q1518 This Amendment 2 accomplishes the following actions: 1. The solicitation close date is extended from 8/29/2022, 3:00 PM, EST to 9/6/2022, 3:00 PM, EST. 2. The follow questions received 8-23-2022 are answered with the response: . Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 1, Section 1.1 - The contractor must also be able to prove they have conducted business at a physical location which houses the service office, warehouse, dispatch of vehicles and other functions related to the performance of these services during the same previous 3 years. Question: I understand this statement to say that contractors need to prove they have been operating out of the physical locations they intend to use for this contract for at least the last 3 years. Am I understanding this correctly? If not, please clarify. Answer: Yes - The physical address will assist as proof of longevity as a legitimate DME business and the accessibility for zone coverage service. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 4, Section 6.4 - Subcontracting (DME): The contractor shall not subcontract services. Question: Sometimes it is cost effective and efficient to subcontract certain functions of a contract. This is not only a benefit to the contractor but most importantly to the VA. I suggest allowing subcontracting, but only if approved by the VA. Answer: Patient confidentiality is the driving factor to award to one prime contract awarding a DME contract. One vendor is expected to be awarded and perform contract actions. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 4, Section 8.1 - VA-Owned equipment includes, but not limited to, the following list of durable medical equipment. VA-owned equipment may be delivered directly to the contractor s warehouse by the Government or Government supply sources to include private industry suppliers. The Contractor shall pick up VA-Owned equipment from VA facilities located in either the northern, central, southern or caribbean zone service area as directed by the COR. Question: I understand this solicitation to be for the VISN 8 Northern and Central Zones only. Please clarify. Answer: Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 4, Section 8.1 is hereby revised to remove the verbiage: southern or caribbean zone service area. The sentence shall now read: The Contractor shall pick up VA-Owned equipment from VA facilities located in either the Northern or Central Zones, as directed by the COR. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 5, Section 10.1 - The contractor shall provide a clean, pest/rodent free, secure, contained area to accommodate the storage of miscellaneous Government Owned supplies and equipment covered under this contract for the northern, central or caribbean zones at no additional cost. Contractor shall provide a minimum of 5,000 square feet of storage space per medical center in each zone. Storage areas must conform to all applicable State, Local and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes. Amendment 1 Questions and Answers also stated: A: Contractor shall provide a minimum of 5,000 or maximum of 5500 square feet of storage space per medical center in each zone. Question: I understand this solicitation to be for the VISN 8 Northern and Central Zones only. Please clarify. Answer: Two delineated areas are specified as areas serviced: the Northern Zone encompassing North Florida and South Georgia; and the Central Zone encompassing the central area of the state of Florida; Bay Pines, Tampa and Orlando. Question: If during the operation of the contract, 5,500 square feet of storage space is not large enough to safely store miscellaneous Government Owned supplies and equipment covered under this contract. How will to contractor bill the government for additional storage space that is needed above the maximum 5,500 square feet? Answer: The contractor should anticipate space for five VAMC at 5000 to 5,500 square feet each, collectively used, 27,500 square feet should meet the storage needs. Northern Zone: Gainesville VAMC and Lake City VAMC. Central Zone: Bay Pines VAMC, Tampa VAMC and Orlando VAMC. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 8, Section 12.1 - The contractor shall comply with all applicable state laws concerning licensing and operation of motor vehicles. Evidence of certification with the Department of Transportation (DOT) Regulations are to be included with bid, or prior to contract award, as well as personal liability and property damage insurance coverage within the limits as required by law. The vehicles used in the performance of this contract must be covered, licensed and meet the minimum requirements as mandated by each state/county/city in which performance occurs. Question: Please clarify if this evidence needs to be submitted with our bid/proposal or if it is required prior to contract award. Answer: DOT certification and insurance documents shall be submitted with the contractor s bid by the solicitation closing date and time. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 12, Section 15.12 - These instructions shall be documented per Joint Commission standards. A copy of the Contractor s checklist forms shall be forwarded with the solicitation package. Question: Instead of solicitation package , did you mean to say offeror s bid/proposal? Please clarify. Answer: Amendment 2 changes the verbiage: A copy of the Contractor s checklist forms shall be forwarded with the solicitation package. The sentence shall now read: A copy of the Contractor s checklist forms shall be forwarded with the Contractor s bid package. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 16, Section 24.2 - The contractor shall provide a monthly (or as changes occur) update in writing on staffing levels of delivery and office staff for all locations serving the VA Sunshine Healthcare System Northern, Central and Southern area facilities. Question: I understand this solicitation to be for the VISN 8 Northern and Central Zones only. Please clarify. Answer: Two delineated areas are specified as areas serviced: the Northern Zone encompassing North Florida and South Georgia; and the Central Zone encompassing the central area of the state of Florida; Bay Pines, Tampa and Orlando. Amendment 2 removes the verbiage: and Southern area. Attachment 2, Price/Cost Schedule: Line items 0001 & 0001AA Question: The description for both line items are exactly the same. Please clarify. I bring this up because if you compare the same line items for the Central zone, they are different. Answer: Lines 0001, 0002, are used as a descriptive line for the sub-lines that follows. Descriptive lines are not priced, while sub-lines with quantities are to be quoted. Attachment 2, Price/Cost Schedule: UNIT Column Question: The UNIT column lists SV for each line item. Please clarify the definition of SV. Answer: SV is the unit Service intended for Flat rate pricing. Attachment 2, Price/Cost Schedule: Line item 0001AE - Northern Zone: North Florida and South Georgia (NFSG) Contracted hourly Repair/Set-up rate for VA-owned equipment, to coverany complex repairs beyond the one hour rate. Question: Since this line item is requesting and hourly rate, shouldn t the UNIT column be Hour ? Please clarify. Answer: SV is the unit Service intended for flat rate pricing. Historically repairs are within one hour, so a flat hourly rate should be quoted. Attachment 2, Price/Cost Schedule: Line item 0001AD - Maintenance, Refurbishing and Repair of DME, including all routine Maintenance, Refurbishing and Repair calls, Maintenance, Refurbishing and Repair as per manufactures guidelines. Question: Shouldn t the UNIT column be Hour ? Please clarify. Answer: Historically repairs are within one hour, so a flat hourly rate should be quoted. General question: I noticed there was no SF1449, contract clauses, Offeror Representations and Certifications, etc provided in this solicitation. Please clarify. Answer: The solicitation is issued under FAR Part 12.6, Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Products and Commercial Services. When a written solicitation will be issued, the contracting officer may use the procedure to reduce the time required to solicit and award contracts for the acquisition of commercial products or commercial services. This procedure combines the synopsis and the issuance of the solicitation into a single document. When using the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure, the SF1449 is not used for issuing the solicitation. The provisions and clauses are stated in the solicitation. General Question: Can contractors bid only one zone? Answer: The Government intends to make an All or Nothing Award - A method of award resulting from a competitive solicitation by which the Procurement Office will award the resulting contract to a single bidder. General Question: Is it the intention of the government to make only one award covering both zones? Or will you be making one award per zone? Answer: The Government intends to make an All or Nothing Award - A method of award resulting from a competitive solicitation by which the Procurement Office will award the resulting contract to a single bidder. General Question: Due to our experience that the amount of assembled items varies significantly would the government consider adding a CLIN for the assembly of items as a per item cost for delivery to the hospital or CBOCs? We believe this will be beneficial to both the VA and contractor. Answer: The requirement is already included in the Price Schedule as such: Assembly and Delivery of VA owned equipment delivered to the hospital or CBOC's (Boxed deliveries). Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 9, Section 13.1.1 The delivery/set-up/pick-up itself must be completed within 72 hours of receipt of the order, unless otherwise approved by VA COR/VA Representative or if the veteran and/or guardian/relative requests additional time? Question: Could you change the statement of work to reflect that delivery/set-up/pick-up itself must be completed 72 after positive contact with the veteran or at the veteran s discretion? Answer: Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 9, Section 13.1.1 is hereby revised to change the verbiage: The delivery/set-up/pick-up itself must be completed within 72 hours of receipt of the order to The delivery/set-up/pick-up itself must be completed within 72 hours after receipt of order upon positive contact with the veteran. All contact attempts must be documented. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 9, Section 13.1.5 Contractor shall maintain a weekly per individual VAMC/VHCS computer log of orders received, deliveries and pick-ups by each VAMC/VHCS. The report along with the specific equipment items by Patient Name & SSN, date issued/picked up, equipment conditions (new or used), model, serial number, and the total dollar value, shall be submitted by PKI encrypted e-mail/in-person/fax to the respective Medical Center COR or designee at the end of each business day (per VAMC/VHCS). Question: Is the report going to be weekly or daily? The statement of work contradicts itself within the same paragraph. We recommend it be weekly. As an aside the purchasing the agents already receive this information upon completion of billing. Answer: Report must be submitted weekly. Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 13, Section 18.1.1 Refurbishing: The Contractor shall be responsible for refurbishing select DME equipment such as Power Wheelchairs, Patient Lifts, and Overbed Tables as requested by the COR or designee. Personal type bathroom equipment, (e.g., commode chairs, raised toilet seats, bath seats, etc.) hospital beds and standard mattresses shall not be refurbished. Question: Since the government identified that power wheelchairs and custom rehab chairs are not part of this contract in accordance with Amendment 1, should power wheelchairs be omitted from this section? Answer: Attachment 6, Statement of Work, Page 13, Section 18.1.1 is hereby revised to omit the verbiage: The Contractor shall be responsible for refurbishing select DME equipment such as Power Wheelchairs, Patient Lifts, as requested by the COR or designee.