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Contract Opportunity

Amendment 0001:

Q&A Responses -

1) Q: In section 3.1 the second bullet point states “Must have pre-test capability allowing employees to “test out” when reaching minimum passing score.” Can you please provide more clarification for this requirement?

A: For each training (APRN, RN, LPN & CNA) package, the contractor shall provide a LMS and training modules capable of the following: Must have pre-test capability allowing employees to “test out” when reaching minimum passing score. The option for the employee to “test out” of completing the training module if they receive a “passing score” on the pre-test allowing the employee to receive “credit” for the module.

2) Q: How many staff does IHS have for each of the following Nursing Professions?

A: IHS has an estimated 3,000 staff serving in Nursing roles including CNAs, RNs, and APRNs.

3) Q: Is the solicitation going to be open to additional parties and/or socioeconomic interests, or strictly Buy Indian?

A: The Sources Sought Notice was posted to see if there are enough qualified Buy Indian vendors to release a Buy Indian Set-Aside Solicitation. Please refer to the section stating that all qualified parties (regardless of socio-economic status) are welcome to respond. The resulting solicitation will be set-aside based on responses to this posting and additional market research.

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This is a sources sought notice prepared in accordance with the solicitation format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.

The Division of Acquisition Policy (DAP) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Indian Health Service (IHS) wants to identify businesses that can provide the IHS Office of Clinical and Preventive Services, Division of Nursing Services (DNS) with services outlined in section (vi) below.

(ii) The solicitation number 75H70424R00003 is being issued as a Sources Sought Notice.

(iii) A statement that the solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-06.

(iv) Pending sufficient industry responses, the Government intends to issue a combined synopsis/solicitation RFP following the closure of this sources sought notice. The NAICS code for the requirement is 611430, Professional and Management Development Training, with a small business size standard of $15.0M.

(vi) IHS seeks professional assistance with the following services requirement: Online Nursing Training.

*Associated Performance Work Statement is attached.

*Please ignore the specification of Rockville, MD as the Place of Performance. Any location within the USA is acceptable. SAM now requires a selection for the City and State.

(vii) The period of performance will start from the Date of Award. Anticipated award is for a BASE + 4 Option Periods (annual). The work is to be performed from the Contractor site. The acceptance term for the services and deliverables to be provided is FOB Destination.

(viii) N/A

(ix) N/A

(x) N/A

(xi) N/A

(xii) N/A

(xiii) N/A

(xiv) N/A

(xv) Responses must be submitted by February 5, 2024, 10:00 A.M. (EST). Questions are not guaranteed to be responded to.

All responsible sources that are capable of performing the work (services and deliverables) outlined in the Performance Work Statement may submit a written response to this notice, which shall be considered by the Agency. General capability statements will be considered non-responsive and will not be accepted. Please submit these responses by e-mail using pdf or MSWord to Brendon Moran, Contracting Officer, Division of Acquisition Policy, at Brendon.Moran@ihs.gov. SUBMISSIONS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTED VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL. Written responses will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. TELEPHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

The Government requests interested parties (especially Buy Indian eligible vendors) submit a written response to this notice which includes:

1. Company name and a brief description of their company's business size (i.e. annual revenues and employee size);

2. Company point of contact, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, DUNS number, and website address;

3. Name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a company point of contact who has the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives;

4. Business status (i.e., Small Business, SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOB, American Indian/Alaska Native owned business, etc.). Type of company is validated via the System for Award Management (SAM). All respondents must be registered on SAM located at https://www.sam.gov;

5. The firm’s capability and experience in providing services as outlined above for this requirement;

6. The firm’s capability and experience in providing Online Nursing Training;

7. Description of same/similar services offered to the Government and to commercial customers (past or present). Any responses involving teaming agreements should delineate between the work that will be accomplished by the prime and the work accomplished by the teaming partners;

8. Anticipated teaming arrangements (i.e. prime contractor/subcontractor, joint venture, mentor-protege relationship, etc.);

9. Applicable GSA Schedule number or other available procurement vehicle, if applicable;

10. Date Submitted.

Disclaimer and Important Notes:

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information 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 on a government GPE (www.SAM.gov). 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).

(xvi) The Indian Health Service Point of Contact for the solicitation is Brendon Moran, Contracting Officer, Division of Acquisition Policy. All questions regarding the solicitation must be emailed to Brendon.Moran@ihs.gov.

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