The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting a Source Sought Market Survey to determine the availability and potential capability of small and large businesses to provide skilled individuals who are certifiably trained in services of Patient Care Unit Clerks within the Clinical Center that is a research facility. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 561320. NIH is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation. Its mission is science in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability. The NIH Clinical Center serves as the nation’s premier research hospital for conducting clinical research to improve the health of humankind. The Clinical Center also serves as the national resource for clinical research by fostering dynamic interactions with outside partners; developing diagnostic and therapeutic interventions; enhancing systems to ensure the safe, efficient , and ethical conduct of clinical research; training clinical researchers; and leaving the clinical research response to the nation’s emerging public health needs. The Clinical Center Complex of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is located in Bethesda Maryland. The Clinical Center is the hospital of the NIH consisting of 242 inpatient beds, 90 day hospital stations, outpatient clinics, diagnostic and treatment areas, and public waiting areas. Adjacent to the hospital facilities are research laboratories. The complex consists of the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center (Magnuson Center) that covers 661,600 sq. ft. and the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center (Hatfield Center) that covers 870,000 sq. ft. The Magnuson Center is fifty years old and had a substantial addition completed in 1981 which is called the Ambulatory Care Research Facility (ACRF). The purpose of these services is to provide consistent and reliable Patient Care Unit Clerk (PCUC) staffing for the various patient care units and patient care support areas within the NIH Clinical Center. Twenty-eight (28) positions have been designated to be filled by contract staff on an ongoing basis. In addition, there will be a need for intermittent patient care unit clerk staffing services to cover planned/unplanned leave of contractor staff and government vacancies. These services will be performed in various locations throughout the Clinical Center, including: inpatient units, outpatient clinics, diagnostic testing areas, surgery, admissions, centralized scheduling and the patient travel voucher office. The Clinical Center has a need for dedicated and committed individuals to perform in a healthcare environment that is aligned to the NIH mission. The Contractor(s) shall, on a consistent basis provide contract personnel to provide Patient Care Unit Clerk staffing services. This may include a contractor staying beyond their assigned tour of duty to meet the program of care needs. This contract will be managed by the Ambulatory Care Services Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services at the NIH Clinical Center. The contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that staff assigned to this contract will provide consistent and reliable services meeting all the requirements of the specific position and meeting program needs. The contractor(s) shall be responsible for providing appropriate staff coverage in a timely manner when a contractor is on planned and unplanned leave to ensure continuity of services. Personnel working in all the areas will be interacting in-person and by phone with patients, visitors, physicians, nurses and other staff and it is important that the contractor personnel provide outstanding, consistent customer service for all customers. Patients that are seen at the NIH Clinical Center may be anxious, fearful, sick, have physical deformities etc. In addition, many of the patients and families are not from the local area and this sometimes creates additional anxiety. It is extremely important that the contract personnel maintain a consistent high level of customer service and convey understanding, responsiveness, care and compassion. The duties to be assigned to Patient Care Unit Clerks will only entail what is specific to the area assigned. The Government will provide all training required to perform the duties. At a minimum, the contractor must provide information to show pertinent experience related to their hiring practices and internal training in adequately forwarding candidate profiles for review and approval by the Program Officials for the various positions within the research facility. This information should include but not limited to : (1) The pool of qualified candidates and their training within a research facility such as NIH Clinical Center or healthcare facility; (2) Experience the contractor has in successfully managing long-term staffing assignments in patient areas of a health care facility along with providing back-up personnel for planned/unplanned leave of primary individuals; (3) Customer Service Training which certifies contractor staff to handle the type of patients within the work area assigned; (4) Give a general background of your organizational structure; lines of authority and qualifications of essential officials and management staff; (5) In staffing this type of contract provide a description of how qualified applicants will be provided for potential placement; (6) Does your agency have policies and procedures in place for counseling employee staff internally who have attendance or performance issues; (7) What type of recruitment plan does your agency have in place in recruiting and retaining of well qualified and high performing employees; (7) Does the agency have supervisory personnel that monitor employee staff and subsequent replacements. Capable firms should provide (4) copies of their capability qualifications based on the above information requested to the attention of Deborah Britton either via email at
[email protected] or mail to 6707 Democracy Blvd; Suite 106; Bethesda, MD 20892 no later than close of business November 10, 2008. As previously stated, this market survey is for informational purposes only and does not constitute the synopsis announcement for the actual solicitation.