This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products and/or services. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise because of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing its acquisition approach, statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this Sources Sought Notice or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. The submission of pricing, capabilities for planning purposes, and other market information is highly encouraged and allowed under this Sources Sought Notice in accordance with (IAW) FAR Part 15.201(e). The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the products and/or services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) Company Name; (b) Address; (c) Point of Contact; (d) Phone, Fax, and Email; (e) UEI Number; (f) Cage Code; (g) Tax ID Number; (h) Type of Small Business, e.g., Services Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, or Small Business HUBZone business, etc.; (i) State if your business has an FSS contract with GSA, VA NAC, NASA SEWP, or any other federal contract, that can be utilized to procure the requirement listed below and provide the contract number; and (j) Must provide a capability statement that addresses the organization s qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below. Requirement: The VA Heartland Network 15 Contracting Office located at 3450 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048-5055 is seeking a potential qualified contractor to provide Service for Cepheid GeneXpert 16-16 for the Leavenworth KS and Topeka KS VA Medical Centers Please see the Performance Statement of Work for more specifics and details. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS Code) is 621521 (Diagnostic Imaging Centers), size standard $19.0. Based on this information, please indicate whether your company would be a Large or Small Business and have a socio-economic designation as a Small Business, VOSB or SDVOSB. Important Information: The Government is not obligated to, nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this source sought synopsis request. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to an acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. Currently a total set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms is anticipated based on the Veterans Administration requirement with Public Law 109-461, Section 8127 Veterans Benefit Act. However, if response by Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms proves inadequate, an alternate set-aside or full and open may be used. Responses to this notice shall be submitted via email to Lisa Buchanan at lisa.buchanan1@va.gov. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received no later than Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 8:00AM CST. If a solicitation is issued it shall be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this source sought. Responses to this source sought notice are not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of the solicitation. Performance Statement of Work The contractor shall provide full maintenance on site, to include all replacement parts, software updates, labor, travel expenses, tools, test equipment and other incidentals necessary to maintain or restore the listed equipment to operating specifications which meet or exceed the manufacturers specifications. Any and all parts used must be new or factory rebuilt for that model and type of device. If any action requires replacement of hard drive (or other storage media), the contractor shall not remove the hard drive (storage media) from the VA premises and, must turn over said device to Healthcare Technology Management (HTM). In-house HTM will provide first look response to all trouble calls and will notify contractor when services are needed. The contractor must respond by telephone for diagnostic response within two (2) hours after notification and must respond on the premises of the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care Systems (EKHCS) campus (Colmery-O Neil Topeka VA Medical Centers) within one (1) business day when required for on site service call as requested by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or a designee. All services for this contract must meet manufacturers performance and technical specifications, ISO standards, Federal Regulations, FDA device certification and other specifications that may apply such as National Electric Code (NEC), Life Safety Code (LSC), the Joint Commission (JC), and VA Regulations. Also, Contractor must provide the appropriate service documentation at no additional expense. Contractor shall provide hardcopy proof, upon request by COR, that contracting entity is a certified manufacturer service provider and that technicians are current in device certification training. Contractor service representative shall report to the Engineering Offices upon arrival on station to be issued a temporary VA Contractors ID badge and shall wear the VA issued ID badge above the waistline at all times while on the premises. The C&A requirements do not apply, and that a Security Accreditation Package is not required. The devices do not have VPN access. This system does not link into the VISTA computer network thus the contractor shall not have access to the VISTA computer network nor shall the contractor access any PHI and or PII (electronic or hardcopy) at anytime. The contractor shall ONLY respond to service calls placed from COR or designee. The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for this contract is Larry Kokenge, his office phone number is (785) 350-3111 ext. 52882 and his email address is Lawrence.kokenge1@va.gov. Contractor shall not perform any service that will result in additional charges without prior approval from the VA Hospital Contracting Officer. Contractor shall include all hardware and software, updates, patches, and revisions, and licenses to already purchased devices and options at no additional charge to VA EKHCS. All contractor personnel must report to the COR or, the HTM Department to sign in before any work is performed on the premises of the VA EKHCS campus, and to sign out after completion of assignment. The contractor must furnish a detailed field service report, or equivalent, showing work completed, listing all repairs and/or repair parts used to maintain operating efficiency of the equipment. This report must be delivered to HTM as the contractor signs out and leaves the facility or via email to Lawrence.kokenge1@va.gov. If service is completed after 4:30 pm, sign out and email an electronic copy of field service report the report to the COR. Payment will be withheld pending receipt of this report. The service report from the contractor must contain, at a minimum, the following information: Date and time of the contractor s arrival on station. Type, model, and serial number(s) of all equipment on which maintenance was performed. Total time spent performing maintenance, excluding travel time. Detailed narrative description of the malfunction or PM action required. Complete list of parts replaced. Comments as to the cause of the malfunction when applicable. Date and time the repair or software upgrade was completed. There is a potential for exposure to blood borne or other infectious material with equipment throughout the hospital. All maintenance persons must use the Universal Precautions (i.e. decontamination of medical equipment, wearing protective gloves, aprons, and goggles) during cleaning and maintenance/repair procedures required by this contract. Payment will be made quarterly, in arrears, upon receipt of a properly prepared invoice, referencing the period for which payment is due, contract number and/or purchase order number assigned. Preventive maintenance inspections shall be performed in accordance with manufacturer s literature on a semi-annual basis and must be prescheduled to avoid equipment access conflicts. Preventive maintenance inspections shall be performed in a manner which clearly demonstrates that all equipment meet or exceed all manufacturers technical performance specifications for preventive maintenance. Each preventive maintenance inspection shall include all items outlined in the manufacturers manual. Equipment Covered by this contract includes: Topeka Nomenclature: Standard 12 Month Service Agreement for GeneXpert 16-16 See also GSA Contract# GS-07F-0597T Manufacturer: Cephid VA ID# 589 EE257832 Serial#110003299 Model# GeneXpert 16 P/N: GX16-16-12M And all sub-components This equipment is located in room C211, Building 1, Colmery-O Neil VA Medical Center Topeka Kansas. Leavenworth Nomenclature: Standard 12 Month Service Agreement for GeneXpert 16-16 See also GSA Contract# GS-07F-0597T Manufacturer: Cephid VA ID# 589 EE228701 Serial#840466 Model# GeneXpert 16 P/N: GX16-16-12M And all sub-components This equipment is located in room B237-B88-LE Dwight D Eisenhower VA Leavenworth Kansas. At the completion of each repair, the Contractor shall provide a written service report to the COR or his designee. This report shall clearly state the date of service, type of service performed, the model and serial number of equipment serviced, and the name of the field technician who performed the repair. Service reports will be used to verify work. Payments will not be made without service reports to document work.
