This is a sources sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes. NAICS code: 334513 and sized standard is 500. NOTE: Respondent claiming SDVOSB and VOSB status must be registered and CVE verified in VetBiz Registry www.vetbiz.gov. Background: Pursuant to Federal Supply Schedule and FSS Contract Clause I-FSS-646, it is the intent of the Department of Veterans Affairs; MidSouth Healthcare Veterans Integrated Service Network herein afterward referred as VISN 9 to establish a Cost per Test (CPT) for a selective and differential medium for the qualitative direct detection of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It is the intent of the Government to award this VISN-wide Contract to a single Contractor for the selective and differential medium for the qualitative direct detection of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The contract shall be under the FSS Contract, FSC Group 65, Part VII Section B Invitro Diagnostics, Reagents, Test Kits & Test Sets. Contractors agree to the following terms of the contract exclusively with the VISN 9 facilities listed in Section 14 "DELIVERY" below. However, as requirements change, facilities within VISN 9 may be added or deleted by supplemental agreement of the Government and the Contractor. All products ordered under this contract, placed against the Federal Supply Schedule Award Contract(s), are subject to the terms and conditions of the FSS contract. Purpose and Objectives: The standardized microbiology identification of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) selective and differential medium for the qualitative direct detection of MRSA miscellaneous clinical sites and nasal colonization to aid in the prevention and control of MRSA infections in healthcare settings. The MRSA selective and differential medium for the qualitative direct detection of MRSA miscellaneous clinical sites and nasal colonization will meet the VHA Directive 2207-002 "Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Initiative". MRSA is a gram-positive coccus that is resistant to multiple antibiotics, causes serious disease, and is often difficult to treat. The Contractor is required to provide a continuously stocked inventory required to properly perform MRSA testing and to insure that MRSA testing is not interrupted. These items shall be of the highest quality, sensitivity, specificity and tested to assure accuracy. Expiration dates must be clearly marked on the MRSA media. Unexpected changes in methodology shall be at the expense of the Contractor. Alert/Notification of any delays in shipment as well as any or all technical advisory/recalls/alerts, prior to or simultaneously with field alerts shall be forwarded to the designated individual(s) determined at contract award. Special handling for emergency orders of media: In the event that the shipments are found to be defective and unsuitable for use, or the Contractor has failed to comply with the requirements for routine supply delivery, the Contractor is required to deliver the media within 24 hours of receipt of a verbal order for emergency delivery. If either circumstance has occurred, the Contractor shall deliver to the government site in the most expeditious manner possible without additional cost to the government, the necessary media in sufficient quantity as required to allow operation of the laboratory requirements for one week minimum. If additional requests for emergency supply delivery are required by the government, they shall be honored by the Contractor until the arrival at the laboratory of the quarterly or monthly standing order/routine medial delivery. Project requirements: VISN 9 has a requirement for a selective and differential medium for the qualitative direct detection of MRSA miscellaneous clinical sites and nasal colonization by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to aid in the prevention and control of MRSA infections in healthcare settings. The MRSA media must allow for efficient identification of MRSA colonized patients or healthcare workers and positive MRSA patients that are a potential reservoir for MRSA transmission and the test can be performed on anterior nares specimens. The MRSA media must allow VISN 9 to implement rapid testing for MRSA to meet the VHA Directive 2207-002 "Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Initiative". All products offered to VISN 9 must be of the same consistent high quality as would be offered to the general commercial public in the United States. (a) All products are purchased subject to acceptance by the VAMC Microbiology Laboratory Quality Control Group. Products that fail to meet quality control criteria of the Laboratory will not be accepted. Products will be rejected and may be discarded upon receipt if found to be unsatisfactory by the Laboratory's Quality Control Group, or later if deterioration of the product occurs before the outdate. The VAMC will not be financially liable for unacceptable products. (b) All products must be tested for Quality Control by the manufacturer/supplier, and only those products that pass manufacturer/supplier's Quality Control may be sent to the VA Laboratory. The manufacturer will demonstrate documentation of Quality Control performance of any item upon request of the VA Laboratory. (c) The Manufacturer's quality control methods must be completely outlined as to chemical analysis procedures, incubation times and temperatures, sampling quantity, organisms used, source of organisms, and if wild strains are used, the date of their original isolation. Each VAMC Microbiology Laboratory will be provided with this information. Any change in the manufacturer's quality control testing must be completed prior to receipt of the media by the VAMC Microbiology Laboratory. The VAMC Microbiology Laboratory will be notified immediately of any media deficiencies revealed by the manufacturer's quality control procedures. (d) Unless otherwise specified for a particular media type, the agar in all plated media will be at least 3mm deep in all areas of the plate when the media is received by the Laboratory. (e) All defective or inferior products must be replaced within 48 hours at no cost to the VA Medical Center. (f) The VA Laboratory is not required to return unacceptable media, but may do so in the rare case where a limited number of items may be returned to solve a quality control problem. (g) The Laboratory must be notified before any changes take place in products. All product recipes and ingredients must be approved as acceptable by the VA Laboratory. This will be a Firm Fixed Price Contract. The quantities as listed below are estimated yearly requirements. VISN 9 attempts to be as accurate as possible when providing estimated quantities, however, actual quantities required may vary from quantities as listed. All products can be placed on a "standing order" or requested on an "on demand, as needed" basis. Delivery orders will be placed via telephone or FAX by authorized VA Medical Center PLMS personnel throughout the contract period. ANNUAL SITE VOLUME Huntington 10,800 Lexington 8,400 Louisville 800 Memphis 480 Mountain Home 13,200 Murfreesboro 5,000 Nashville 16,674 TOTAL: 55,354 TERM OF AGREEMENT: This will be a single award, firm-fixed price contract with one base year and four, one year options and shall be effective for the term of the FSS Contract including additional FSS extensions; however, the government does reserves the right to make multiple awards. The Contractor is required to immediately notify the Contracting Officer (CO), in writing, if at any time the FSS contract upon which this contract is based, is no longer in force. The resulting contract shall be automatically extended for the remaining term of the contract without modification upon any extension of the offeror's FSS contract. In addition, should a new FSS contract replace offeror's current FSS contract, the resulting contract may be reassigned under the new FSS contract for the remaining term of the contract with written agreement between offeror and the CO. DELIVERY: Deliveries shall be made to: Huntington VA Medical Center PLMS (113) 1540 Spring Valley Drive Huntington, WV 25704 Lexington VA Medical Center 113 CDD Pathology 1101 Veterans Drive Lexington, KY 40502-2236 Robley Rex VA Medical Center PLMS (113) 800 Zorn Avenue Louisville, KY 40206 Memphis VA Medical Center (614/113) Supply Warehouse Attn: CW 192 Sharon Freeman 1030 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38104-2193 James H. Quillen VA Medical Center Veterans Way @ Lamont Street Warehouse 204 Mountain Home, TN 37684-4000 VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System York Campus 3400 Lebanon Pike Murfreesboro, TN 37129 VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Nashville Campus 1310 24th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 All deliveries shall be accompanied by a delivery ticket or sales slip which shall contain: vendor's name, purchase order number, date of order, date of delivery, itemized list of products furnished including product description and quantity shipped. Delivery Orders issued shall be identified by the VISN Contract number and the FSS Contract Number. F.O.B. Destination prices are preferred and encouraged, but are not required. If prices are not quoted F.O.B. Destination, then the following information must be provided for each item: F.O.B. POINT:___________________________________________________________ SHIPPING WEIGHT:______________________________________________________ NUMBER AND KIND OF PACKAGE:_______________________________________ SPECIAL HANDLING COSTS, IF ANY:_____________________________________ ESTIMATED SHIPPING COSTS:___________________________________________ Where applicable bidder shall indicate any bid items currently offered that are on his Existing Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract to include item numbers, contract number, FSC Group and expiration date. FSS Contract Number:___________________________________________________ FSC Group:____________________________________________________________ Other important considerations: No product substitutions will be accepted without the prior approval of the VA Medical Center Laboratory Service and the Contracting Officer. Any substitutions of product must have the written approval of the VAMC Microbiology Laboratory Service and the Contracting Officer or his/her designee. The Contractor shall provide to the Contracting Officer and the VISN 9 P&LMS Program Manager a copy of a quarterly report of sales, by ordering facility, within 15 calendar days after the close of each quarter's business. Reports are to reflect, as minimum, total net sales, amounts before discount, and discount amounts by ordering facility along with the raw data that was used to generate the reports. These reports shall be used to monitor the commitment of each facility, reporting the savings realized and shall be shared with each participating facility, personnel associated with acquiring the products, and respective Laboratory personnel. Please e-mail your response with the above information to [email protected] or fax to 615-849-3769 or mailed to 1639 Medical Center Parkway Suite 400 Murfreesboro TN 37129-2573 with the subject line "RFQ # VA249-13-Q-0994 by 12:30 p.m. on September 16, 2013. Any question should be emailed to [email protected]. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.202(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public in Federal Business Opportunities in accordance with the FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. 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)."

Bid Protests Not Available