U--Services to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI).

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION - This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) This solicitation is issued as a request for proposal (RFP). Submit a written proposal on RFP reference number VA249-12-R-0914. The Government requires that all Contractors doing business with this office be registered with System for Award Management (SAM). No award can be made to a company not registered in SAM. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: https://www.sam.gov/. Please ensure that the representations and certifications are completed to allow Contracting Officers to be able to determine your business size and any additional socio economic categories, if applicable. In order to register, all firms must have a Dunn & Bradstreet Number. A Dunn & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by accessing the Dunn & Bradstreet website at https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/newUserLogin.htm or by phone at +1 (555) 000-0000. (iii) This is a solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-60. (iv) This solicitation is for full and open competition and the associated NAICS code is 611310 with a small business size standard of $7 million dollars. (v) This combined synopsis/solicitation is for the following commercial service: CLIN 0001- Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) as outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Base Year - Period of Performance: October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013 CLIN 0002- Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) as outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Option Year 1 - Period of Performance: 1 October 2013 - 30 September 2014 CLIN 0003- Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) as outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Option Year 2 - Period of Performance: 1 October 2014 - 30 September 2015 CLIN 0004- Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) as outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Option Year 3 - Period of Performance: 1 October 2015 - 30 September 2016 CLIN 0005- Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) as outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Option Year 4 - Period of Performance: 1 October 2016 - 30 September 2017 (vi) A description of the requirements is as follows: The Mountain Home Veteran Affairs Medical Center has a requirement for rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services per the attached PWS. (vii) Anticipated Period of Performance is 1 October 2012 through 30 Sep 2013 for the base period. Performance will take place at the Contractor's facility and designated locations of the training sessions as per the PWS. (viii) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items (Jun 2008), applies to this acquisition. Addenda: Offers may submitted in any format that the offeror desires as long as it contains all the required information contained in section b of this provision. (ix) FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation -- Commercial Items (Jan 1999), applies to this acquisition. (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1. Price, 2. Technical, 3. Past performance LOWEST PRICE TECHNICALLY ACCEPTABLE In accordance with FAR 15.101-2, Award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors. TECHNICAL ACCEPTABLE/UACCEPTABLE RATING The purpose of the technical factor is to assess whether the offeror's proposal will satisfy the Government's minimum requirements. Some of the aspects affecting an offeror's ability to meet the solicitation requirements may include technical approach, key personnel and qualifications, facilities, and others. The Government shall evaluate the offeror's proposal against the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) contained in this solicitation to determine whether the proposal is acceptable or unacceptable. A proposal is acceptable in that it clearly meets the minimum requirements of the solicitation, or unacceptable in that the proposal clearly does not meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation. PAST PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CRITERIA: In accordance with FAR 15.305(a)(2)(ii): "The Government shall consider this information , as well as information obtained from any other sources, when evaluating the offeror's past performance. The source selection authority shall determine the relevance of similar past performance information. In accordance with FAR 15.305 and (a)(2)(iv): "In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offer may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance." Therefore, the offeror shall be determined to have unknown past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, "unknown" shall be considered "acceptable." Offerors shall submit the following information, as applicable, with their proposal: (1) Identify other Federal, State, or Government contracts, along with private sector contracts for similar products that your company has had within the past three years. This information shall include the company's name, contract number, contact person and telephone number. NOTE: A MINIMUM OF THREE REFERENCES MUST BE PROVIDED. (2) List all past or pending litigation for your company, your company under previous names, and your parent company. List contract terminations, in the past 24 months, under your current name, previous names, and parent company. Provide information on problems encountered on the identified contracts and your company's corrective actions. (a) As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 42.15, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates contractor past performance on all contracts that exceed $100,000, and shares those evaluations with other Federal Government contract specialists and procurement officials. The FAR requires that the contractor be provided an opportunity to comment on past performance evaluations prior to each report closing. (b) For contracts with a period of one year or less, the contracting officer will perform a single evaluation when the contract is complete. For contracts exceeding one year, the contracting officer will evaluate the contractor's performance annually. Interim reports will be filed each year until the last year of the contract, when the final report will be completed. The report shall be assigned in CPS to the contractor's designated representative for comment. The contractor representative will have thirty days to submit any comments and re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer. Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). Award. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (x) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items (Apr 2012) An offeror shall complete only paragraphs (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certificates electronically via the SAM website at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ . If an offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the SAM website https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (o) of this provision. (xi) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition; as well as the following addenda: N/A, no addenda to subject clause. (xii) The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Order-Commercial Items (Deviation), applies to this acquisition. (xiii) The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.204-7, Central Contractor Registration; 52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel; FAR 52.209-6; 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options; 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services within 60 days before the contract is set to expire; 52.217-9 Option to Extend Term of the Contract 30 days prior to expiration of the current performance period; FAR 52.222-3, Convict Labor; FAR 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies; FAR 52.222.21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; FAR 52.222-22, Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports; FAR 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance; Department of Labor Wage Determination 94-2079 Rev 30 Applies, 52.222-42 Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires; FAR 52.225-18, Place of Manufacture; FAR 52.232-28, FAR 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration; FAR 52.233-3, Protest After Award; FAR 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim; FAR 52.246-1, Contractor Inspection Requirements; FAR 52.247-34, F.O.B. Destination; FAR 52.252-1,FAR 52.253-1, Computer Generated Forms (xiv) The following Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) rating applies: N/A (xv) The date, time, and place for submission of proposals are as follows: 27 September 2012, 3:00P.M Central Time. ORAL OFFERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Submit written offers via mail, email or fax. Shawn Hendricks -Contract Specialist, Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 9, 1639 Medical Center Parkway, Suite 400 Murfreesboro, TN 37129; e-mail: contact@example.gov ** Email is the preferred method of receipt of proposals. ANY OFFER RECEIVED AFTER THE TIME SET FORTH IN THIS SOLICITATION SHALL BE LATE AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. PLEASE PROVIDE ALL CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO THIS SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION THROUGH EMAIL. (xvi) For further information regarding this solicitation, offerors can contact the following individual: Shawn Hendricks -Phone: +1 (555) 000-0000, Fax: +1 (555) 000-0000, e-mail: contact@example.gov Performance Work Statement (PWS) Rural Health Curriculum Design, Training, and Evaluation Services VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI) Mountain Home VAMC, TN I. Deliverables Descriptions Planning and Development: 1. Contractor shall provide all labor, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, travel, shipping, and any other necessary items and services necessary to provide rural health curriculum design, training, and evaluation services for the VA Rural Health Professions Institute (RHPI). Curriculum design will be for the two (2) Rural Health Training Team's (RHTT) Train the Trainer sessions and validation of design on existing and forthcoming RHPI web based products. Curriculum design includes the following: a. Proposal of inclusive curriculum modules based on Steering Committee input, VA Office of Rural Health direction, literature review, and Advocate feedback from past Institute periods, b. Development of learning objectives for each curriculum module, c. Development of a curriculum topic description that establishes topic parameters for a presenter to work within, d. Identification and development of participatory exercises that complement and reinforce didactic delivery of curriculum module content, and e. Provision of these items as a finished document for inclusion in the annual Business Plan and for posting on the RHPI SharePoint site. Validation of design on existing and forthcoming RHPI web based products includes: f. An annual review of the web based learning tools and confirmation that they comply with the topic parameters and learning objectives of the curriculum module, g. Development or adaptation of topic parameters and learning objectives for new online modules, and h. Periodic needs assessment of Institute participants in order to validate appropriateness of online learning systems as opposed to face-to-face learning. That assessment may be accomplished simply through participant or VISN Rural Health Training Team questioning, or review of participant program feedback. 2. Propose to the Steering Committee the RHPI Train the Trainer event layout of topics and value enhancing venues based on the curriculum areas and objectives, and the Government stipulated period of instruction for the upcoming Institute year. a. Provide a final version for planning use and for inclusion in the RHPI annual Business Plan. 3. Provide a resource plan describing the personnel, material, and fiscal resources necessary for the conduct of each module developed for Train the Trainer. a. Personnel will include proposed faculty or guest presenters, staff involved in delivery preparation, and evaluators specifically required for that topic. b. Material will include binder content, augmenting handouts, instructional assist items such as equipment, flip charts, easels, or projectors. c. Fiscal resources will include educated estimates on associated costs such as venue costs, food costs, and transportation costs. 4. Submit fully prepared curriculum materials including learning objectives, faculty qualifications, and evaluation measures so that may be provided to VA Employee Education System (EES) to enable professional continuing education credit for each Institute Train the Trainer session. 5. As requested, provide supportive, curriculum related, information for inclusion in the annual RHPI Business Plan. Institute Operations: 1. Provide professional assistance in conducting Institute Train the Trainer sessions. This is expected to include the following deliverables: a. Conduct two RHPI Train the Trainer sessions (expected to be March and May 2013). The two sessions will involve VISN Rural Health Training Teams from across the nation. Train the Trainer sessions are expected to be two and a half (2.5) days in length. b. Delivery of the Institute Week will be primarily in the area of Johnson City, TN but one or both may be held in locations across the nation as the needs of participants and guidance from the VA Office of Rural Health may dictate. c. Institute Week direct participation will include but may not be limited to the roles of Co-Director, facilitators, evaluators, presenters, and supporting staff. 2. Conduct follow-up interviews with participating VA team leaders for process improvement effectiveness evaluation at rural health delivery sites within ninety (90) to one hundred twenty (120) days of completion of each Institute and again at 1 year after completion of each Institute. a. Maintain a record of those interviews. b. Provide detail and propose the best of those projects to the Institute for inclusion as a "Best Practices" topic to be used in either a published or conference form. c. Include reports on those interviews with the annual summary report discussed below. 3. Participate in planning and development meetings, including but not limited to Steering Group meetings, focus groups, consultant panels, evaluation or research meetings, and curriculum modification planning. a. Contractor staff is encouraged to attend meetings in person, but virtual attendance is acceptable. b. Contractor staff may be asked to provide topical or project status reports or subject matter expert personnel to address specific issues. 4. Provide support for items not addressed in current VA EES contracts. This may include: a. Meeting spaces, b. Supporting material or equipment, c. Alternate or additional venues such as breakout rooms at the Institute's hotel venue or in a local community, d. Light snacks for breaks or working meals as stipulated by the COR, e. Local transportation to support alternate venues and optional activities. 5. Coordinate the collection and transmittal of all presenters' slides. a. Provide final slides to VA EES no later than fourteen (14) days before the Institute Week start. b. Post final slides to the RHPI SharePoint site at the conclusion of each Institute Week. 6. Coordinate the participation of community leaders in Institute Week activities. These include speakers for local and geographically remote events held away from the Johnson City, TN area. That will include but may not be limited to: a. The Tuesday Community Roundtable discussion, and b. Speakers for optional activities. 7. Provide support to the program in preparation of any materials, presentations, or services needed on those occasions that the Program presents or represents itself at external functions such as National Rural Health Association (NRHA) conferences, the Veteran's Rural Health Advisory Committee, or similar events. 8. Provide subject matter expert presenter delivery of content prepared for online, web-in-air, or live meeting type, or similar online learning formats to an audience of rural health professionals. This is expected to occur as many as four (4) times a year. 9. Provide "RHPI Coach" activities to those VISN based Rural Health Training Teams (RHTTs) who participate in RHPI Train the Trainer. Those roles include monitoring planning progress, providing experienced based suggestions and guidance as needed, participation in RHPI Field Session events as needed either on site or by VTEL, and follow up to ensure all RHPI program requirements are met. Evaluation: 1. Working in conjunction with and as members of the RHPI Steering Group, provide a formal program evaluation plan for Institute year 2012. The plan should include: a. The outcomes or goals desired, b. The measures to be used, c. The forms and instruments to be used in collecting those measures, d. Documentation of the methodology to be used in gathering, storing, tracking, and analyzing each measure, e. The identification of the party responsible for each of those tasks, f. The expected collection and reporting format, content, and audience of the final report, g. The identification of those parties responsible for preparing it, and h. A timeline for each of the key events discussed. 2. Provide an Institute effectiveness evaluation that concentrates on quantifiable measures to the extent possible in order to demonstrate the Institute as a high return on investment organization. Qualitative measures and assessments will highlight non-quantifiable aspects of the program. 3. Participate on the formal Project Evaluation and Study Team to design program effectiveness methodologies and instruments and/or modify evaluation measures used the previous year. 4. Submit individual session and cumulative evaluation reports to the Project Evaluation Team. a. Identify observers to evaluate and record impressions of Institute sessions. b. Submit written summaries and review of each Institute including each module of each Institute within twenty (20) days of completion of that Institute Week including written suggestions for modification or improvement. c. Provide a final cumulative evaluation report at the conclusion of the final Institute Week that includes: i. Analysis of lessons learned including curriculum design, ii. The process of Institute delivery, iii. The appropriateness of Institute learning objectives, iv. Instructional delivery methods, and v. Participant feedback. 5. Forty Five (45) days after the conclusion of the final Institute session provide recommendations on strategies to sustain and maximize the value of the Institute. 6. Provide reports in both electronic and printed format for each deliverable to the VISN 9 Strategic Planner and the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) based at Mountain Home VA Medical Center. Project Management: 1. As requested by the COR, provide cost history of this contract and provide future cost projections that allow informed evaluation of resource allocations. 2. Travel requested by the Program and accomplished by the Contractor is reimbursed at the published GSA Federal Per Diem rates. Table of Deliverables Task Item Deadline Format Task 1.1 Curriculum Design Date of Award + twenty (20) Business Days Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 1.2 Weekly Layout of Sessions Date of Award + twenty (20) Business Days Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 1.3 Resource Plan Date of Award + thirty (30) Business Days Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 1.4 Fully Completed Course Materials Date of Award + forty (40) Business Days Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 2.1 Execution of Institute Sessions Per Forthcoming Schedule Task 2.2 Follow Up Interview Report on PIP Input for Final Report at Year End Electronic Task 2.5 Collection & Coordination of Presenter Slides Ten (10) Days Prior to Institute Week Start Electronic Task 2.8 Execution of Institute Online Sessions Per Forthcoming Schedule Task 3.1 Formal Evaluation Plan Date of Award + thirty (30) Business Days Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 3.4 Individual Session Evaluations Twenty Days Post Institute Week Electronic Task 3.4.c Cumulative Evaluation Report Fifteen Days Post Final Institute Week Electronic Task 3.5 Sustainment Proposal Forty five (45) Days Prior to Final Institute Week Electronic & two (2) Hard Copies Task 4.1 Project Management Summaries As Requested Electronic