SOLICITATION NOTICE
Q -- ARC Blood & Blood Products Long-Term Acquisition
- Notice Date
- 6/19/2013
- Notice Type
- Justification and Approval (J&A)
- NAICS
- 621991
— Blood and Organ Banks
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;VAMC;10 N Greene St;Baltimore MD 21201
- ZIP Code
- 21201
- Archive Date
- 7/6/2013
- Point of Contact
- Orelia Parker
- E-Mail Address
-
Medical
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- VA245-13-D-0066
- Award Date
- 7/1/2013
- Description
- DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS VISN 5 Justification and Approval For Other Than Full and Open Competition 1.Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 05, VA Maryland Health Care System (209 W. Fayette Street; Baltimore, MD 21201) Requisition No. In Process 2.Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: Pursuant to Citations 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) the VA has a requirement which can only be reasonably met by a single supplier. Services at this time may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract, when it is likely that award to another source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirement and substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Previous Contract Number: VA245-P-0388. The American Red Cross (ARC), a non-profit organization, is supporting the VAMHCS in meeting its strict requirements for collecting and processing blood products as well as meet delivery constraints for emergency product requests. The government anticipate award of an Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC) for (51)-Months; Base plus Option Period. 3.Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: Award a sole source contract with the American Red Cross, 2025 E ST NW, Washington, DC 20006-5009 (ARC) to provide blood and blood related products to the VAMHCS. The total estimated value of the acquisition is: $1,171,743.30 *** (Schedule and cost breakdown removed) **** 4.Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: FAR 6.302-1 and 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1): Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. 5.Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): The American Red Cross (ARC) is the only contractor that can provide all blood products and reference services to the Baltimore division of the VAMHCS for the following reasons: a.ARC has sufficient collection capability to provide the volume of blood products required by this medical center. b.ARC meets the strict requirements of the FDA, American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), and College of American Pathologists (CAP) as required by the Veterans Administration to: 1-Collect the blood products in the prescribed manner. 2-Perform all screening tests necessary to ensure a safe blood supply. 3-Have the ability to deliver the blood products in the required timeframe. 4-Have the ability to deliver the blood products required from other ARC regions when blood in short supply in this region. 5-ARC is the only vendor in the region who can meet the required delivery time for emergency units of blood. 6-Maintain all the required documentation concerning collection, typing, antibody- screening, deposition, and testing for infectious diseases for each unit. 6.Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: The VAMHCS Blood bank supervisor performed a survey of local hospitals and investigated five possible alternatives to the ARC. These sources are: MEDSTAR Health Blood Donor Services, Blood Bank of Delmarva, INOVA Blood Donor Services, Anne Arundel Medical Center Blood Donor Center, and Miller-Keystone Blood Center. None of these sources were able to meet all of this facility's requirements, either due to limited services, limited blood supplies, or distance from Baltimore. A search of the internet also located NO acceptable vendors. 7.Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The ARC is a world-wide supplier of blood and blood products with well-established prices. The Government intends on requesting the best available prices offered to ARC customers in the region and will ensure that prices obtained are at the very least equal to those offered to other commercial companies/agencies. It is therefore, anticipated that the cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. 8.Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: Further market research was not conducted beyond the efforts described in paragraphs 5 and 6 above. The quality control, processing and handling of blood products for use in the VAMHCS requires the highest degree of product confidence. Only the ARC can reasonably satisfy both the confidence and responsiveness criteria of this requirement. 9.Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: Pricing from all vendors investigated was competitive. MEDSTAR and Anne Arundel only supplied their own facilities. INOVA did not have a reference laboratory. Blood Bank of Delmarva, INOVA and Miller-Keystone were too far away from Baltimore to supply ADHOC emergency deliveries within an acceptable time. Establishment of an alternative source for future procurements would require an extraordinary effort to develop a potential supplier with the ability to establish and make use of an international network of blood collection, handling, testing, treatment, storage, and distribution capabilities in order to address the specifications and responsiveness requirements for blood and blood products at the VAMHCS. In addition to being cost prohibitive to set up and verify VAMHCS satisfaction of quality and responsiveness concerns, such an effort would by definition have a national scope that crosses various State jurisdictions and licensing authorities, which adds both time and legal risks that are beyond the ordinary set of responsibilities of the VAMHCS to nurture competition. 10.Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: None. 11.A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: No actions are planned because there are no vendors or institutions in the Baltimore area that are able to meet the strict requirements for collecting and processing blood products as well as meet delivery constraints for emergency product requests other than the American Red Cross. The most significant barrier to fostering competition lies in the ability of an alternative source to develop a supply network and a VAMHCS verified system of product quality control sufficient to address the specification and responsiveness concerns of the VAMHCS. The VAMHCS will conduct surveys of the market prior to future procurements to determine whether such a potential alternative supplier has entered the market place. 12.Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. I certify the technical requirements are accurate and complete to support the recommendation of other than full and open competition.
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