Unrestricted or

E.10 VAAR 852.270-1 REPRESENTATIVES OF CONTRACTING OFFICERS (JAN 2008)

The contracting officer reserves the right to designate representatives to act for him/her in furnishing technical guidance and advice or generally monitor the work to be performed under this contract. Such designation will be in writing and will define the scope and limitation of the designee's authority. A copy of the designation shall be furnished to the contractor.

(End of Provision)

E.11 VAAR 852.271-70 NONDISCRIMINATION IN SERVICES PROVIDED TO BENEFICIARIES (JAN 2008)

The contractor agrees to provide all services specified in this contract for any person determined eligible by the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of the person for whom such services are ordered. The contractor further warrants that he/she will not resort to subcontracting as a means of circumventing this provision.

(End of Provision)

E.12 VAAR 852.273-70 LATE OFFERS (JAN 2003)

This provision replaces paragraph (f) of FAR provision 52.212-1. Offers or modifications of offers received after the time set forth in a request for quotations or request for proposals may be considered, at the discretion of the contracting officer, if determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Late bids submitted in response to an invitation for bid (IFB) will not be considered.

(End of Provision)

E.13 VAAR 852.273-74 AWARD WITHOUT EXCHANGES (JAN 2003)

The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without exchanges with offerors. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct exchanges if later determined by the contracting officer to be necessary.

(End of Provision)

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

E.14 VAAR 852.273-73 EVALUATION - HEALTH-CARE RESOURCES (JAN 2003)

(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. All subfactors for each major factor are in descending order of importance. The following information or factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

FACTOR I – TECHNICAL
Subfactor I – Staffing

(1) Key Personnel Qualifications--Contractor must provide a complete list of PT/PTA providers including documentation, credentials, and experience as annotated below:

(i) Certified Resumes/Vitas—A “certified” résumé typically is defined in the solicitation as a résumé signed by both the offeror and the person the résumé represents certifying that the information is true and complete and that the individual will be available to perform under the contract.
Note: To receive an “Outstanding” rating a certified resume shall contain, per each applicant, the applicant’s signature certifying that all information is true and complete and that the individual will be available to perform the required tasks as stated in the statement of work.
(ii) Letter of Commitment—“Letters of commitment” are letters from professional personnel not in the employ of the offeror at the time of offer. The letters state that the professional acknowledges that the professional's résumé will be used in the offer and that the professional intends to accept a reasonable offer of employment should an award to that offeror be made.
Note: To receive an “Outstanding” rating a Letter of Commitment shall state that the professional acknowledges that the applicant’s resume will be used in the offer and that the professional intends to accept a reasonable offer of employment should an award to that offerer be made.
(2) Each provider possesses a valid Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) certification.
(3) Each provider has a minimum of one year of recent physical therapy experience in the United States in an outpatient therapy clinical setting.
(4) PT must possess a current, unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in any U.S. jurisdiction.
(5) PTAs must possess an associate's degree and if licensed, the license must be unrestricted.
(6) PT and PTAs must have no record of disciplinary action or criminal activity that would currently exclude, suspend, or terminate him/her as an authorized Department of Veterans Affairs health care provider.
(7) Contract employee shall be able to read, write, and speak English well enough to effectively communicate with all patients and care providers.
(8) Demonstrate that proposed contract employees possess sufficient computer skills and are proficient to utilize CPRS/VISTA and Microsoft Office programs.

Subfactor II - Provider Coverage

(1) Demonstrate the ability to provide a physical therapist and physical therapy assistants (residing within 150 miles) in their pool of eligible staff.

Note: To receive an “Outstanding” rating the Contractor shall demonstrate the ability to provide therapist/therapist assistants in their pool of eligible staff that reside within 150 miles of the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation PM&R Service, located at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS), Audi L. Murphy Division, San Antonio, TX.
(2) Demonstrate the ability to provide physical therapist and physical therapy assistants from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, 40 Hours per week per therapist and assistants.
(3) Demonstrate the ability to provide continuity of care by offering the same individual therapist and therapist assistants for a minimum of 4 months/120 days.
(4) Demonstrate contingency/back up plan if a provider is unable to work or complete any shift(s) that they are scheduled to work.
(5) Demonstrates commitment to have all potential providers (regularly scheduled and back- up) complete necessary processing as required by Human Resources and Information Technology prior to the first day of work.

FACTOR II - PAST PERFORMANCE

(a) Offerors shall submit a list of Government contracts and/or commercial contracts (prime contracts, task/delivery orders, and/or major subcontracts in performance at any point) during the three (3) years prior to the proposal submission date, which are relevant to the efforts required by this solicitation; limitation is five (5). Areas of relevance include experience as annotated in the Section B, Statement of Work, Paragraph 1.2., Qualifications.

(b) Offerors without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance and, as a result, will receive an Unknown Risk rating for the Past Performance factor.

(c )Adverse past performance is defined as past performance information that supports a less than satisfactory rating on any evaluation element or any unfavorable comments received from sources without a formal rating system.

Factor III – VETERANS INVOLVEMENT

(a) For SDVOSBS/VOSBs: In order to receive credit under this Factor, an Offeror shall submit a statement of compliance that it qualifies as a SDVOSB or VOSB in accordance with VAAR 852.215-70, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Veteran-Owned Small Business Evaluation Factors. Offerors are cautioned that they must be registered and verified in Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database (http://www.VetBiz.gov) to be eligible and considered for award.

(b) For Non-SDVOSBs/VOSBs: To receive some consideration under this Factor, an Offeror must state in its proposal the names of SDVOSB(s) and/or VOSB(s) with whom it intends to subcontract, and provide a brief description and the approximate dollar values of the proposed subcontracts. Additionally, proposed SDVOSB/VOSB subcontracts must be registered and verified in Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database (http://www.VetBiz.gov) in order to receive some consideration under the Veteran’s Involvement Factor.

(c) With regard to the requirements for registration and verification in the VetBiz database, reference VAAR 804.1102.

(d) At the Offeror’s sole discretion, provide information in accordance with VAAR Subpart 852.219-72, Evaluation Factor for Participation in the VA Mentor-Protégé Program.

FACTOR IV - PRICE

(a) Technical, Past Performance, Veterans Involvement, and Price are listed in descending order of importance. The Technical Factor is significantly more important than the Past Performance Factor. When combined Technical, Past Performance, and Veterans Involvement, are significantly more important than the Price Factor. To receive consideration for award, a rating of no less than "Acceptable" must be achieved for the Technical Factor. The non-Price Cost Factors combined are significantly more important than the Price Factor. Offerors are cautioned that the award may not necessarily be made to the lowest Price/Cost offered.

(b) Except when it is determined not to be in the Government's best interest, 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 materially unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) The Government evaluation team will conduct an in-depth review and evaluation of all performance data obtained to determine how closely the work performed under those efforts relates to the proposed effort. The Government will review available past performance data in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). However, the Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available sources and may contact customers other than those identified by the offeror when evaluating past performance.

(d) When relevant performance record indicates performance problems, the Government will consider the number and severity of the problems and the appropriateness and effectiveness of any corrective actions taken (not just planned or promised). The Government may review more recent contracts or performance evaluations to ensure corrective actions have been implemented and to evaluate their effectiveness.

(e) The evaluation team may consider the Offeror's, including subcontractors, joint ventures, and past performance in aggregate, in addition to an effort (contract) by effort basis. As a result of an analysis of those factors identified, each Offeror will receive an integrated Technical Assessment, which is the rating for Factors I, II, and III, as defined below. The resulting Assessment rating represents an overall evaluation of contractor performance.

(f) Technical Assessment Ratings. The Technical Factor rating will be expressed as an adjectival assessment of Outstanding, Good, Acceptable, Susceptible to Being Made Acceptable or Unacceptable.

Rating Definition

Outstanding A proposal that meets or exceeds all of the Government’s requirements, contains extensive detail, demonstrates a thorough understanding of the problems, and is highly feasible (low risk).

Good A proposal that meets or exceeds all of the Government’s requirements, contains at least adequate detail, demonstrates at least an understanding of the problems, and is at least feasible (low to moderate risk).

Acceptable A proposal that at least meets all of the Government’s requirements, contains at least minimal detail, demonstrates at least a minimal understanding of the problems, and is at least minimally feasible (moderate to high risk).

Susceptible to Being An approach which, as initially proposed, cannot be rated Acceptable

Made Acceptable because of minor errors, omissions or deficiencies, which are capable of being corrected without a major rewrite or revision of the proposal. For award without discussions, proposals with this rating are considered Unacceptable.

Unacceptable A proposal that contains a major error(s), omission(s) or deficiency(ies) that indicates a lack of understanding of the problems or an approach that cannot be expected to meet requirements or involves a very high risk; and none of these conditions can be corrected without a major rewrite or revision of the proposal. A proposal that fails to meet any of the Government’s requirements after the final evaluation shall be ineligible for award regardless of whether it can be corrected without a major rewrite or revision of the proposal.

(g) Past Performance Ratings. The Past Performance Factor rating will be expressed as an adjectival assessment of High Risk, Moderate Risk, Low Risk or Unknown Risk.

Rating Definition

High Risk Significant doubt exists, based on the Offeror's performance record, that the Offeror can perform the proposed effort.

Moderate Risk Some doubt exists, based on the Offeror's performance record, that the Offeror can perform the proposed effort.

Low Risk Little doubt exists, based on the Offeror's performance record, that the Offeror can perform the proposed effort.

Unknown Risk No relevant performance record identifiable; equates to a neutral rating having no positive or negative evaluation significance.

(h) Veterans Involvement. The following rating definitions will be utilized in the evaluation of the Veterans Involvement Factor:

Rating Definition

Full Credit The Offeror is a prime and is properly registered and verified in the Vendor Information Pages (http://www.VetBiz.gov) as a SDVOSB.

Partial Credit The Offeror is a prime and is properly registered and verified in the Vendor Information Pages (http://www.VetBiz.gov) as a VOSB.

Some Consideration (1) A non-SDVOSB/VOSB is proposing to subcontract with SDVOSB(s) and/or VOSB(s), has provided a name of the SDVOSB(s) and/or VOSB(s), a brief description of the work they are to perform and the approximate dollar values of the proposed subcontracts. Additionally, proposed SDVOSB/VOSB subcontractors must be registered and verified in Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database (http://www.VetBiz.gov).

or

(2) A non-SDVOSB/VOSB provides a copy of a signed letter issued by the VA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization approving the Offeror’s Mentor-Protégé Agreement.

No Credit The Offeror does not qualify for any credit as described above.

(i) Definitions.

(i) Deficiency. A material failure of a proposal to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

(ii) Strength. Any aspect of a proposal when judged against a stated evaluation criterion, which enhances the merit of the proposal or increases the probability of successful performance of the contract. A significant strength appreciably enhances the merit of a proposal or appreciably increases the probability of successful contract performance.

(iii) Weakness. A flaw in the proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance. A significant weakness in a proposal is a flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

(j) If this solicitation is a request for proposals (RFP), 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.

(End of Provision)