Active

Contract Opportunity

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local PTAC (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

Summary:
The VA Capital Health Care Network 5 (VISN 5) seeks to provide hearing impaired employees and/or patients with a reasonable accommodation in the form of sign language and CART Transcription services. These services are requested for translating spoken English to hearing impaired employees and/or patients at all VISN 5 Medical Centers in which a friendly yet comfortable professional relationship will be formed with each of the hearing-impaired employees and/or patients located at one of the VISN 5 Medical Centers.
Description of Work:
This service request supports a routine American Sign Language (ASL) and Communication Access Real Time (CART) service for hearing impaired employees and/or patients at all VISN 5 Medical Centers. These services are to be provided on a weekly or monthly basis, and as needed for emergency or routine meetings, during any/all group meetings and sessions, or conferences for hearing impaired employees located at all VISN 5 Medical Centers.
There will be no overlapping of scheduling interpreting services. The requested effort and use of the interpreter will be coordinated between the departments.
The transcriptionist and provider securely connect through Joinme.com using a unique authentication code provided by the contractor. Once online connection has been established, the CART transcriptionist and group individuals will be joined via teleconference call.
The CART transcriptionist listens into the meeting and transcribes verbatim, and in real-time, what is being said by all meeting participants. As the CART transcriptionist types, the words appear on the provider s iPad and the words roll off the top of the provider s screen as the conversation progresses
The candidate may be exposed to sensitive personnel information. The appropriate clearance will be required Public Trust.
The secure software associated with this process prevents a patient s health information from being saved once the CART transcriptionist has completed the real-time transmission process. This privacy and security feature is inherent within the program, by design.
Certifications: Industry Standard requirement, Sign Language certification or formal academic degree in sign language and two (2) plus years of experience are required.
The contractor shall be able to provide an interpreter that can interpret medical terminology.
There will be no off-site activity for the requested services; they will be on-site for all events. No travel required.

Locations:

All VISN 5 Medical Center Locations

Baltimore VA Medical Center Beckley VA Medical Center
10 N. Greene St. 200 Veterans Ave
Baltimore, MD 21201 Beckley, WV 25801

Hershel Woody Williams VA Medical Center Lock Raven VA Medical Center
1540 Spring Valley Dr. 3900 Loch Raven Blvd
Huntington, WV 25704 Baltimore, MD 21218

Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center Martinsburg VA Medical Center
1 Medical Center Dr. 510 Butler Ave
Clarksburg, WV 26301 Martinsburg, WV 25405

Perry Point VA Medical Center Washington DC VA Medical Center
10 N. Greene St 50 Irving St. NW
Baltimore, MD 21201 Washington, DC 20422

This request covers Fiscal Years 2023 through 2028 (FY 2023- FY 2028). The anticipated contracting method will be a 5-year multiple-award BPA to ensure that small & veteran-owned businesses are able to compete for some or all of the work covered in the resulting BPA.
Interested & Capable Responses:
NCO 5 is seeking responses from entities that are interested in this procurement and consider themselves to have the resources, capabilities and qualifications necessary to perform sign language and CART Transcription services for some or all of the locations listed above.
Please respond to this RFI/Sources Sought 36C24522Q0699 with your:
1. Business name (including Unique Entity ID (SAM.gov), business type, socio-economic status (e.g., Veteran-Owned, Woman-Owned, Disadvantaged Small Business, 8(a), etc.), and person of contact (including telephone number & email address).
2. Capability statement and summary of previous experience providing these types of services for the Veterans Health Administration or other similar facilities & equipment.
Please include # of interpreters available to your company.
Process in place to manage/execute short notice request and/or emergency orders.
Process to source interpreters to site locations.
3. GSA contract number to include NAICS (if applicable).
Please include ultimate completion date (with options). Must exceed the 5-year anticipated VISN 5 requirement (beyond 2028).
4. Brief Summary of the VISN Location(s) you re aiming to provide services.
5. A BAA will be required. Provide whether you have an existing Business Associate Agreements (BAAs).
6. Ballpark cost estimate of what VHA could expect to pay for the services described above.
Expected schedule:
Base Ordering Year: FY23 FY24

Qty Unit Price Amount

Sign Language Interpreter Est HR $ $
CART Services Est HR $ $
Short Notice Requests Est HR $ $
Responses must be submitted by 3:00 PM (ET) June 9, 2023. Responses to the information requested above must be submitted via email to robert.okeefejr@va.gov . Please include 36C24523Q0599 in the email subject to ensure that messages aren t overlooked.
This request for information/sources sought notice is for planning purposes ONLY and does not constitute a solicitation, responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The results of this market research will assist in the development of (1) the requirement, and (2) the acquisition strategy (e.g., SDVOSB/SDVOSB set-aside, small business set-aside, full and open competition, etc.). VA assumes no responsibility for any costs incurred as a result of a vendor s preparation of responses submitted as a result of this notice.

Robert O Keefe
Contracting Officer
VHA, NCO 5
Robert.okeefejr@va.gov

Attachments/Links