Small Business Sources Sought Notice Solicitation Number NHLBI-CSB-(HL)-2012-13-EB This Small Business Sources Sought Notice (SBSSN) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. The NAICS code applicable to these services is 622310, Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals with a business size standard of $34.5 million. Based on the responses received from this SOURCES SOUGHT announcement, the proposed acquisition may be solicited as a Total Small Business Set-Aside. All eligible small business concerns responding to this Sources Sought Notice must have the capabilities to provide the below services at time of award. Background: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), plans to re-establish a Cardiothoracic Surgery program in partnership with a surgery/clinical center. The goal of the program is to provide a world-class basic science and clinical research program that links basic laboratory research (biochemistry, bioengineering, physiology, pharmacology, pathology) and clinical investigation (cardiovascular medicine and surgery). Technical Requirements: Patient Care- The Contractor shall provide a fully equipped cardiothoracic surgery facility with operating rooms and cardiovascular intensive care beds and cardiothoracic surgeons to provide cardiac procedures for patients 1) eligible for clinical research protocols, 2) evaluated by the Cardiology Consult Service, or 3) who previously underwent heart surgery at the NIH Clinical Center prior to 1990 and referred for specialized treatment. Additional services and procedures arising from the innovative research and training initiated as part of the contract shall be included as they become available: 1) Coronary arterial bypass grafting (CABG) 2) Replacement and repair of cardiac valves 3) Congenital heart repair 4) Other heart surgery (e.g., tumor excision, pericardiectomy, conduit placement) 5) Arrhythmic surgery 6) Thoracic surgery 7) Intra-aortic balloon assist device placement The Contractor shall provide surgical back-up for percutaneous endovascular or intracardiac procedures performed by credentialed invasive cardiologists with the capability of on-site surgical intervention or rapid transfer should complications be encountered during procedures. In order for NIH to assess small business organizations capable of responding to a Request for Proposals, we are requesting capability statements be submitted by interested organizations. Please address the following as part of your capability statement 1: Evidence of fully equipped cardiothoracic surgical facility with dedicated operating rooms and cardiovascular intensive care beds; 2: Evidence of ability to provide an academic cardiothoracic surgeon with prior leadership experience in basic science and clinical research; 3: Evidence of feasibility to provide an adequate number of cardiac surgery patients to the cardiac surgery program, and evidence of ability to maintain community support for the research program. 4. Evidence of acute care center is within 5 minutes driving and/or 10 minutes by foot from the NIH Bethesda campus to permit NHLBI clinical and technical staff to respond to acute patient issues in a timely manner which is absolutely critical to the success of this project. Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement, not to exceed 20 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) and using a 12-point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above. Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement (preferably placed under the eligible small business concern's name and address). Responses will be reviewed only by NIH personnel and will be held in a confidential manner. All capability statements sent in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Evanthia Bouzis, Contracting Officer, at bouzise@mail.nih.gov in either MS Word, or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by Friday, September 1, 2011, 2:00 PM, EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. 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 to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. 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).
