Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant Staffing

The Department of Veterans Affairs, through its Network Contracting Office 21 in Mather, California, is soliciting proposals for Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant staffing services under solicitation number 36C26126Q0568, with a response deadline of May 15, 2026. This is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set Aside contract with NAICS code 561320, requiring one full-time equivalent Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant to provide services at the VA San Francisco Health Care System, located at 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94121. The contract has a five-year potential period of performance, beginning July 1, 2026, with four option years extending through June 30, 2031, and the base period requiring 624 hours of service annually at six hours per day, two days per week. Offerors must demonstrate extensive clinical experience in high-acuity cardiothoracic procedures including endoscopic radial vein harvesting, robotic thoracic surgery as a bedside first assistant, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting with Medistim flow probes, and second assistance in complex operations such as Ross procedures, aortic root replacements, and hypothermic circulatory arrest cases. Full technical proposals must be submitted in three volumes—Technical, Past Performance, and Price—with all documents in PDF format emailed to the primary point of contact, Cynthia Diezel, and must include CVs, proof of PANCE certification, California PA licensing, ACLS/BLS credentials, cyber and privacy training completion, malpractice insurance, and verification against the OIG exclusion list. The evaluation process prioritizes experience and candidate qualifications above all else, followed by past performance and price, using a trade-off methodology that permits selection of the proposal offering the best overall value—not necessarily the lowest price. The contract includes multiple special requirements such as Tier 3 or 5 background investigations for personnel requiring system access, mandatory VA credentialing under VAAR 852.204-72, immediate notification of personnel changes within 24 hours, and full compliance with VA policies including VHA Directives 1663, 1192, and Handbook 1100.17–19. Contract performance must meet strict benchmarks: 97% on-time availability, 100% compliance with scope of practice, and immediate 24