V--Medicar North of Hwy 38

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Great Lakes Acquisition Center, 5000 W National Avenue, Bldg 5, Milwaukee WI 53295 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved: Justification and approval for other than full and open competition for emergency Medicar transportation services for the VA Hines Hospital. Procurement will proceed on a sole source basis with three established medical transportation firms with Jay Transportation, Royal System Services Corporation, and SCR Medical Transportation. 3. A description of supplies/services required (including the estimated value): VA Hines Hospital has a requirement for Emergency 24 hour Medicar Transportation Services. 4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: FAR 6.302-2. The VA's minimum needs are Unusual and Compelling Urgency based on the fact that the current transportation contract will expire on February 28, 2009 without further provisions to extend. It is for the betterment of patient care to procure transportation services from the firms identified. 5. Facilities Unique Qualifications: The Contracting Officer had issued a solicitation for transportation services for VA Hines Hospital. Proposals were received and evaluated. The Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB) recommended awarding the contract to a firm. Services are currently being provided to Hines VA Hospital by that firm. The Contract Review Board (CRB) concluded that there were deficiencies in both of the proposals that were evaluated by the SSEB and that the SSEB was not consistent in following the prescribed Source Selection Plan. Although the written intent of the solicitation was to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions, due to proposal deficiencies, the CRB determined that discussion would be necessary. However, in the course of the CRB meeting it was further determined that discussion and subsequent award would not meet VA's goals for transportation of veteran patients. The final decision of the CRB was for the Contracting Officer to cancel the solicitation and during the interim; the following plan would be followed until a one year with two one-year options contract can be established: Extend the current contract through February 28, 2009 to allow for emergency contracts to be awarded. Issue a RFQ to three known contractors due to urgent and compelling needs at VA Hines. Past history and current performance indicators suggest that the transportation needs of VA Hines exceeds the capacity of a single provider. By utilizing numerous contractors, it is the expectation that each of the contractors would be able to better utilize their resources in responding to scheduled daily trips. The three emergency contracts will be issued by geographic areas: o North of Highway 38 o South of Highway 38 o Indiana/Michigan Establish competitive BPA with a minimum of four (4) small businesses to handle all unscheduled or add-on trips. The current contractor provides approximately 3,000 trips per month. The trips are scheduled 24 hours in advance. When additional trips are added to the schedule it results in delays. The BPA providers will only be used for transport of patients who were not scheduled 24 hours in advance. This will eliminate waiting times for patients. The emergency contracts and BPA will be awarded for six months which is the estimated time for the Contracting Officer to award a new contract. Page 2 A solicitation was issued to procure the services of a Transportation Consultant. These services will include: Evaluate current contractor provided Patient Transportation Services Program Evaluate implementation and monitoring of the resulting contract Develop Statement of Work of the resulting contract Develop performance monitors and standards Develop Standard Operating Procedures Baseline, bi-weekly, final written assessments Quarterly reports Site visits The need for emergency contracts is essential in order to prevent services interruption. 6. Efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable: There are currently three (3) firms who responded to a recent solicitation to provide transportation services for VA Hines Hospital. These firms will be issued emergency contracts until a long-term contract can be competed and awarded. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: The cost of the services is anticipated to be similar to the proposed unit costs of the offeror whose price proposal was evaluated and determined to be fair and reasonable. 8. Market survey conducted: An internet search was completed. 9. Other facts: None 10. Other sources expressing an interest: None 11. Actions to remove or overcome any barriers to competition: None 12. Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge. PATRICE R. BOND Contracting Officer