Scope: The contractor shall perform semi-annual sample collection and testing for fungi and bacteria using an impactor and agar plates in the anterooms, inside the clean rooms twelve inches from the bio-safety cabinets, in the pass-thru windows and inside the bio-safety cabinets or as recommended by current edition of USP 797. The location of the samples may vary according to the sampling plan developed by Industrial Hygiene and will be discussed with the Contractor prior to sampling. Tests shall be conducted in the Inpatient Pharmacy IV Room/Anteroom, the Inpatient Pharmacy Chemo Room/Anteroom, the Outpatient Pharmacy Chemo Room/Anteroom and the Nuclear Medicine Clean Rooms/Anteroom and the 5 Biological Safety Cabinets/3 Isolators within rooms. Task: The contractor shall perform the following tasks: Bacteria air sampling Fungi air sampling Bacteria and Fungi surface sampling Prepare and submit samples for laboratory analysis Submit written reports Re-sample, within 24 hours, any samples with results above the Action Level Submit written report of repeated samples Performance: Perform all microbiological sampling at VACHS Pharmacy and Nuclear Medicine Clean Rooms/Anterooms in compliance with USP 797 standard, and VA information letter 10-2006-008. Personnel Qualifications: This sampling shall be performed by an Industrial Hygiene Technician under the supervision of an Industrial Hygienist or by an Industrial Hygienist with at least 2 years of experience in microbiological air and surface sampling. Equipment: Contractor shall utilize appropriate air sampling pumps that are capable of achieving and maintaining the required flow rate of 28.3 liters per minute (LPM), Anderson N-6 impactor or equivalent, Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) and Malt Extract Agar (MEA) plates, and appropriate sterile sampling swabs or equivalent. General Requirements: In the VA on-going effort to ensure that all Veterans are provided the highest quality care, it is required that each VA Medical Center meet or exceed the standards of The Joint Commission (TJC). The Contractor shall maintain an updated record of all Contract Employee s educational documents, evaluation methods and qualifications standards; and these records must be available to the Government upon request. Personnel Qualifications: This sampling shall be performed by an Industrial Hygiene Technician under the supervision of an Industrial Hygienist or by an Industrial Hygienist with at least 2 years of experience in microbiological air and surface sampling. Equipment: Contractor shall utilize appropriate air sampling pumps that are capable of achieving and maintaining the required flow rate of 28.3 liters per minute (LPM), Anderson N-6 impactor or equivalent, Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) and Malt Extract Agar (MEA) plates, and appropriate sterile sampling swabs or equivalent. General Requirements: In the VA on-going effort to ensure that all Veterans are provided the highest quality care, it is required that each VA Medical Center meet or exceed the standards of The Joint Commission (TJC). The Contractor shall maintain an updated record of all Contract Employee s educational documents, evaluation methods and qualifications standards; and these records must be available to the Government upon request. Description: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION Only. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended for information and planning purposes only at this time; and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. This Request for Information is intended for all Socio-economic groups: Service Disable Veteran Owned Small Business, Veterans Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantage Business, HubZone, Woman Owned Small Business, Small Business and Large Business. Because this is a Request for Information announcement, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. No solicitation exists. Therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The Department of Veterans Affairs Service Area Office East/Network Contracting Office 8, San Juan, Puerto Rico Services Team, is conducting market research to identify potential sources with the intention to award Service Contract. Responses to this notice should include company name, address, point of contact, phone number, fax number and point of contact e-mail, DUNS Number, Cage Code, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).The agreement period will be for one (1) base year of 12 months from the date of agreement award and four (4) option years of twelve(12) months. NAICS Code is 541380. This procurement will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received in writing no later than 10:00am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 30, 2019. This notice will help the VA in determining available potential sources only. Do not contact VA Medical Center staff in regard to this requirement, as they are not authorized to discuss this matter related to this procurement action, all questions will be addressed during the solicitation stage by the Contract Specialist. All firms responding to this Request for Information are advised that their response is not a request for proposal therefore will not be considered for a contract award.
