SOURCES SOUGHT
Q -- Request for Information - VHA Integrated Staffing Program
- Notice Date
- 2/28/2023 1:14:42 PM
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 561320
— Temporary Help Services
- Contracting Office
- SAC FREDERICK (36C10X) FREDERICK MD 21703 USA
- ZIP Code
- 21703
- Solicitation Number
- 36C10X23Q0083
- Response Due
- 3/22/2023 7:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 04/21/2023
- Point of Contact
- April Bloom, Contract Specialist, Phone: (240) 215-1681
- E-Mail Address
-
April.Bloom@va.gov
(April.Bloom@va.gov)
- Awardee
- null
- Description
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Request for Information (RFI) Integrated Critical Staffing Program THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY (as defined in FAR 15.201(e)), this is not a solicitation. Solicitations are not currently available. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted, or respond to any questions or comments that may be submitted in response to this RFI. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government and does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary. The agency does not intend to award a contract but rather gather information on capability, delivery and other market information pertinent for acquisition planning. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement and identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support a potential future requirement. The Government may use response information to conduct one on one discussions as well as industry days to further market research efforts. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. RFI PURPOSE This Request for Information (RFI) is for Market Research Only. BACKGROUND The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is America s largest integrated health care system, with over 370,000 employees providing care in approximately 1,300 facilities (including 171 medical centers and over 1,100 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity organized into 18 Veteran Integrated Service Networks (VISN) See VISNs in Interactive US Map at https://www.va.gov/directory/guide/map.asp?dnum=1 ), serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year. VHA faces growth in health care demand due to changes in demographics, the care backlog from the COVID-19 pandemic, trends in shifting sites and modalities of care, greater reliance on VHA health care with increased transitions to VA priority groups 1 through 3, new enrollees related to the PACT Act, and other factors. There are critical shortage occupations where at least 20% of VA health care systems have a shortage in the labor market, for both clinical and non-clinical occupations. It is essential that VHA have access to a broad network of professional and allied healthcare staffing services and pipeline development partners that include national healthcare recruiting companies, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) companies, medical and nursing specialty societies, health professional training programs, credential verification organizations, and other partners who can provide pre-positioned staffing capacity with broad geographical coverage; agile, rapid response capabilities to fill clinical and non-clinical vacancies until new VHA employees can be onboarded; flexibility in meeting a comprehensive array of temporary staffing needs; and ease of use for all VHA stakeholders. PROBLEM The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has critical staffing shortages across multiple occupational series including clinical and non-clinical positions. Staffing shortages are expected to worsen in the coming years due to rising health care demand and the challenge of promptly recruiting and onboarding new hires to meet that demand. VHA predicts an annual need of 10K temporarily staffed positions across 171 medical facilities as well as many, community-based outpatient clinics, domiciliary care, and nursing homes and other sites of care. VISION To reduce staffing shortages across VA in order to increase access to care for Veterans. SCOPE VHA is exploring all (or near-all) encompassing solutions to support implementation and healthcare staffing requirements nationally at all levels within VHA. Solutions will likely include the following support for clinical service environments: On demand clinical and non-clinical services, to fill emergent staffing needs; Staffing coverage for fixed periods of time to allow normal recruitment and onboarding processes to proceed without gaps in Veteran access to timely and high-quality health care and other services; and Temporary staffing coverage for ongoing program management and support needs that allow VHA to accomplish its strategic goals and objectives. ATTACHMENTS See attached for Labor Group Descriptions. (LGD) INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS RFI CONFIDENTIALITY: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Response Format/Page Limitations: The overall total page limit for responses to this RFI is fifteen (15) pages. Responses should be submitted in Microsoft Word format with Times New Roman font, 12 pt. or greater font size. Interested parties should limit marketing material to allow sufficient space for adequately, directly, and substantively responding with the information of most interest to the Government. In all correspondence relevant to this RFI please identify it as a response to the Integrated Clinical Staffing Program - RFI 36C10X23Q0083 - . (Response and Subject Line of email) Any organization with potential capability and capacity responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Respondents are requested to limit responses to the information and in the format provided below. A - GENERAL INFORMATION (Cover Sheet 1 page) Organization name, address, and web site. (include any previous names used) Company Ownership (public, private, joint venture) Point of contact to include e-mail address and telephone number. Business size (large or small). If small, please provide type of small business/socio economic status. Proposed single North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that best fits these task areas, or if multiple proposed include rationale. If applicable, identify any VA FSS/GSA contract number(s), schedule(s), and SIN category or other contract vehicles that support this work as described in the Labor Group Description (LGD). B CAPABILITY AND MARKET INFORMATION Index 1 page (Please provide an index to assist the Government in identifying where you have addressed each question below in your Capabilities Statement and Market Information. Please provide question number and corresponding page and section heading and/or paragraph number.) The scope of the work of the contract is complex and requires staffing across numerous disciplines, geographic locations, and licensing requirements. Therefore, having supported contract(s) similar in nature and complexity is important to successful fulfillment of VHA requirements. Describe how your experience in commercial and Government healthcare and current capability as a prime contractor (within the last 5 years) has equipped you with the knowledge, skills and ability to support integrated staffing requirements for large, complex regional or national health care networks or organizations. For each contract mentioned, please provide the size of the organization(s) supported in terms of dollars (budget), whether it was government or commercial, regional or national, regional locations served, number of people (employees/patients/enrollees), number of partners, and number of locations. Please provide occupational series or labor categories provided under the experience(s); describe how you verified and managed qualifications; describe how you assessed competence; discuss how you managed recruitment; and provide time-to-fill metrics. Under the attached LGD there is great potential for variation in resource requirements and a need for a diverse skill set compliment. Due to the complexity of programs, it is probable that multiple concurrent requests for staffing crossing several labor groups will be required. Additionally, VHA demands will require simultaneous wide geographic dispersion of contracted resources, some with limited notice. Therefore, it is essential that any contractor supporting the work under the attached LGD have the availability to quickly recruit high quality personnel through multiple channels, the ability to staff on short notice with experienced personnel, extensive reach back capability, and access to unique subject matter experts. Please describe the scope and scale of support provided at the Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) level, or private sector federated healthcare network, as a prime contractor managing a complex program, with multiple lines of effort which required agility and staffing of unique and diverse requirements. Please describe the scope and scale of support provided at the VISN and Medical Center level, or an integrated health system or healthcare facility, as a prime contractor managing a complex program, with multiple lines of effort which required agility and staffing of unique and diverse requirements. When facing similar challenges where national reach, breadth and depth of capability and experience, and integration of diverse skillsets were necessary, VA has successfully deployed innovative, large-scale Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract solutions that included contract awards to multiple teams comprised of prime contractor (experienced integrator) and dozens of subcontractors (individual firms). Led by an SDVOSB prime contractor that coordinated with dozens of formal teaming partners (SDVOSBs, VOSBs, small businesses, large business partners, universities, and non-profit organizations), each team combined their reach and collective capabilities to tackle some of VHA s largest professional service requirements. Figure 1 below depicts a representative team built using these principles. Figure 1: Representative Integrated Team When considering potential strategies to address worsening critical VHA staffing shortages, the Government anticipates that a similar encompassing solution may also require the establishment of vendor teams led by an expert integrator (prime contractor). To be a viable solution, prime contractors would require access to national healthcare recruiting companies, health professional training programs, medical specialty societies, credentialing and privileging, and recruitment process outsourcing companies. To provide insight in the area, please describe examples as a prime or subcontractor involving work related to the LGD that required reach back and integration with the specialty providers listed above. Please provide size, scope, duration, and level of complexity for each example; specifically include: Managing sizable vendor teams with national spread/reach Managing interdisciplinary staffing teams Contract management with numerous subcontractors, efficiency in invoicing If relying on a previous response, please reference the applicable question; negative responses are required. The complexities and scale potentially associated with a structured solution to the critical staffing problem may require resources well above those typically available through the Small Business community. To promote Small Business participation and ensure future opportunities for companies owned and controlled by Veterans, the VA is seeking input and ideas on how best to satisfy the 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d), VA Rule of Two and 38 U.S.C. § 8128 At https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/8127 & https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/8128 while still operating at an acceptable program risk level in an environment with extensive resource and specialized expertise requirements. VA foresees a possible need for robust teaming arrangements with a compliment of contractor partnerships, potentially with dozens of firms or more. Please provide any suggestions, input, or ideas to meet the demand and address and mitigate program risks, while acknowledging VA s desire to consider Veteran firms first. Optional Question (for future pricing insight) --Government pricing for temporary staffing services often involves hourly labor rate contracts or firm fixed price contracts for annual employment. Please describe alternative pricing mechanisms that may be more responsive to local market conditions and indicate if you have any Government contracts using these alternative pricing mechanisms (if so, please provide a contract number and point(s) of contact). **************************************************************************** Submission: Responses to this RFI shall be submitted to the following points of contact: Allen.Smith3@va.gov, April.Bloom@va.gov, David.Warnert@va.gov, and Dennis.Rogers4@va.gov respectively no later than at 10:00AM ET on Monday, March 22, 2023. Questions: No questions are being accepted at this time. RFI Expansion: Depending upon the responses received, VA may request additional information, may conduct future question and answer sessions, or may conduct meetings or an industry day. 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although proposal and offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: Information. (End of provision)
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- Record
- SN06604448-F 20230302/230228230112 (samdaily.us)
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