B550--Veteran Facility Transformation and Healthcare Enhancement BPA (VA-23-00011330)

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY Solicitations are not available at this time. 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 Sources Sought. 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 Sources Sought. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to determine the acquisition strategy regarding small business participation and vehicles and methods to acquire the services. Through this process, VA is requesting the capabilities and past performance of large and small business contractors interested in providing these services for VA. Interested small business contractors including Veteran-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned, 8(a)'s, or HUBZones are encouraged to respond. The agency does not intend to award a contract but rather gather capabilities and market information pertinent for acquisition planning. The responses to this Sources Sought will be captured as market research and may contribute to the development of an acquisition strategy. Information provided may be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Requirement Section 106 of the VA MISSION ACT of 2018 requires VA to perform market area assessments at least once every four years and prescribes the elements that need to be included in the assessments, to include: Demand, disaggregated by geographic market areas determined by VA, including requests for VA services. An inventory of VA s health care capacity across all medical facilities. An assessment of the capacity provided by contracted private providers, including the number of providers, the geographic location of the providers, and the categories or types of health care services provided by the providers. An assessment obtained from other Federal direct delivery systems of their capacity to provide health care to Veterans. An assessment of the health care capacity of non-contracted providers where there is insufficient network supply. An assessment of the health care capacity of academic affiliates and other VA collaborations as it relates to providing health care to veterans. An assessment of the effects on VA health care capacity by the access and quality standards established under this bill. The number of appointments for health care services, disaggregated by VA medical facilities and non-Department health care providers. Section 106 required VA to submit the market area assessments to Congress in 2022 and use the market area assessments and quadrennial assessment review to determine the capacity of the health care provider networks established in section 101 of this bill, to inform VA s budget, to assess the appropriateness of the access and quality standards established under this bill, and to develop recommendations for changes to those standards as needed. Section 106 also required VA to submit a strategic plan to Congress, no later than one year after the date of enactment and at least every four years thereafter and to specify: Demand, disaggregated by geographic market areas determined by VA. The health care capacity to be provided at each VA medical center. The health care capacity to be provided through community care providers. Section 106 directed VA to take a number of elements into consideration in the strategic plan, including Veterans satisfaction, the access and quality standards established under this bill, and conditions and needs of Veterans with service-connected disabilities. In preparing the strategic plan, it also directed VA to identify emerging issues, challenges, and opportunities; develop long-term and short-term recommendations to address them; conduct a comprehensive examination of VA programs and policies; and assess the remediation of medical services lines described in section 1706A. Section 106 required VA to be responsible for overseeing the transformation and organizational change to achieve a high performing integrated health care network, developing the capital infrastructure planning and procurement processes required, and developing a multi-year budget process that is capable of forecasting future budget year requirements. Project Description VA has a clear need and an obligation to modernize VA facilities to provide Veterans the best possible health care outcomes and provide our VA workforce the safest and most efficient means and environment possible to deliver care. Veterans in the 21st century should not be forced to receive care in early 20th century buildings. The median age of VA s hospitals is nearly 60 years old. This is why the President requested nearly $20 billion in new VA infrastructure spending last year, and why he requested the largest ever investment in VA infrastructure in his fiscal year 2023 budget. To identify and prioritize health care infrastructure investments that will improve Veteran access to quality VA health care, VA will execute a new collaborative approach for conducting market assessments to increase access and improve outcomes for all Veterans. The new field-driven and transparent approach to market assessments will reflect the valuable stakeholder feedback that has been received and the lessons learned. It will also include using new, better, and up-to-date data; deep collaboration with our networks and medical centers across the country; and early and robust engagement with stakeholders. Stakeholders include Veterans, employees, unions, VISN leaders, Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, and leaders in the community. VA will create a strategy focused on building VA health system infrastructure to support Veterans with the right facilities, in the right places, to provide the right care in every part of the country. Effective planning for Veteran care will be enhanced by contractor support and facilitation in several key areas: 1) Market Area Assessments: Conducting comprehensive market assessments that allow VA to determine how and where to best meet the needs of Veterans through VA-owned/leased infrastructure, innovative care delivery approaches (including virtual care), and partnerships with academic, DoD, other federal, and community providers. This will likely include: a) Development of enterprise-wide strategic analysis to inform planning b) Delivering evidence-based advanced data analytics, VA and commercial healthcare planning expertise, and training. Support may also include supporting engagement with potential partners to identify opportunities and assess their feasibility including emerging healthcare technology and delivery processes. c) Additional domains of analysis including visioning, rural healthcare, education and research, health and wellness aspirations, health equity, population migration, pandemic and PACT Act implications, enrollee reliance, population density distribution, population health, telehealth, and cost accounting analyses. 2) Data Management: Data management solutions that drive effective health care planning and align with VA Data Governance requirements. These include tools to support planning: Data Discovery & Findings-comprehensive market analysis data set considering demand, aggregated by geography, as well as internal and external health care capacity by market Health Systems Planning Application-a VHA internal facility planning tool to enable local planners to Assess their local Veteran population, including eligible and enrolled Veterans, as well as trends impacting Veterans associated health care, Identifying projected imbalances in health care capacity, and visualizing market supply and demand Cost Range Model-a VA tool which estimates criteria-based modernization requirements for every VAMC installation and includes a resource allocation element to project and distribute workload Interactive Mapping Tools-Includes the VHA GIS Planning Portal, a geographic database of capacity, healthcare locations (internal and external) and analytical tools to enable effective distribution of capacity where it is most needed This could also include support for maintaining the Authority to Operate (ATO) for cloud-based tools in VA s environment. 3) Implementation Planning: Helping VA convert high-level strategies into executable, acquisition-ready capital projects. As needed, this may include support for VA in executing strategic partnerships to facilitate expansion of Veteran access to care. It will also include a prototype facility master plan for a complex VAMC campus in dire need of modernization. 4) Strategic Prioritization: A process to update approaches for prioritization based on changes in Veteran need and VA/VHA strategic direction. The process would incorporate extensive input from VISN and VAMC leaders regarding the needs of local markets and would align with VA enterprise strategies and priorities, including clinical priorities. 5) Stakeholder Management and Strategic Communications: Facilitating a Stakeholder Engagement plan through VISN and local leadership to appropriately engage with a broad range of stakeholders. 6) Program Management and Executive Support: Program management oversight, meeting management support to relevant governance bodies, and support for the development of briefings for executive leadership. 7) Special Studies: Additional studies and analyses that will enable VA to appropriately plan for Veteran-centric care or efforts to implement any opportunities. Timeline To complete this, the VA is planning to solicit for an award that requires vendors with deep and broad healthcare system planning and consulting expertise that is able to maintain objectivity and enhance VA credibility with congressional and other external stakeholders. The period of performance could be for up to a maximum of four (4) years from the date of award, although deliverables will be completed in an expeditious manner, and several will be required within one (1) year. Sources Sought Notice This Sources Sought will be used for market research to give Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) the opportunity to engage with contractors to determine overall interest in the mission, experience with healthcare consulting services, capacity to successfully accomplish the work, and small business participation. This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. It does not constitute a solicitation and is not to be considered as a commitment by the Government. All interested parties will be required to respond to the resultant solicitation separately from their response to this Sources Sought. Instruction for responding to this Sources Sought Notice Firms interested in submitting their capabilities statement for this project must include the following information: (1) Company name, address, point of contact with phone number and e-mail address (2) Business size determination and qualifying small business status (3) The applicable Source Sought Number identified in the cover page of this notice. Please limit responses to fifteen (15) pages. Any firm 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. The Contractor capability statement shall include, but not be limited to: A - GENERAL INFORMATION Organization Name and the year in which the company was established/founded (please list any previous names used). Company ownership (public, private, joint venture). What is your socio-economic designation, if applicable? Identify any GSA schedules or other contract vehicles you hold that support this work as described in the background/project description. (Small Businesses Only) The Government anticipates this contract effort will require an estimated 5 consulting teams as described above to support the project requirements within a limited timeframe. Explain how your firm can meet the requirements of FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting for an effort of this scale. B EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITY INFORMATION B1. Consulting Experience: Provide at least three recent examples where you have built healthcare strategy and significantly influenced healthcare delivery systems for major commercial clients. Provide similar examples supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs. B2. Corporate Experience: As VA undertakes work to modernize its infrastructure, it is critical that the support contractor, as prime contractor, has demonstrated recent experience within the last three years with both VA federal and the commercial sector executing similar work to that required by the Department including the following: National federal healthcare market assessment Commercial health care planning National VA transformation effort B3. Capability to Perform: As VA undertakes work to modernize its infrastructure, is critical that the Department have access to a well-qualified prime contractor. Below are desired contractor experiences that will enable effective support for VA as it executes future planning: Experience supporting health care planning for VA and private sector health care systems Experience supporting large health care system transformations in the public and private sectors Experience developing executive level communications products (e.g., briefings, reports) for senior leaders within VA Experience with the VA infrastructure/capital planning cycle Experience supporting internal and external stakeholder engagement / strategic communications plan development and execution for VA Experience developing national planning strategies for clinical service lines Experience supporting nationwide initiatives to solicit Veteran feedback Please submit capability packages via email to: kevin.armillotti@va.gov and tiffany.rivers2@va.gov no later than October 27, 2022, by 3:00 pm EDT with the subject line title Veteran Facility Transformation and Healthcare Enhancement [Company Name]. CFM anticipates the solicitation will issued on or around November 2022. At this time, no solicitation exists, therefore, please do not request a solicitation package.