Z1DA--585-25-101 Upgrade SPS Critical Water System at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, MI

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Contract Opportunity

Control No. 36C252-25-AP-0243
Project 585-25-101 Replace SPS Critical Water System

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JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)
FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION
1. Agency/Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, NCO-12

2. Description of Action:

Nature: New Requirement Follow-on Requirement
Mod to Existing Purchase Order/Contract Number

Pricing: Firm-Fixed Price Time & Materials Cost

Types of Funds: Non-Reoccurring Maintenance (NRM) Funds
585-25-1-6985-0005

Proposed Contractor: Valley Mechanical, Inc.
N3749 Bay de Noc Dr.
Menominee, MI 49858 Attn: Dave Dunn, ValleyMechanical@live.com
Shelby Dunn, Shelby.ValleyMechanical@live.com

3. Description of Services or Supplies:

The total estimated value of the proposed action is $ 113,080.00

Construction Project 585-25-101 Replace SPS Critical Water System
Install a new reverse-osmosis system, critical water storage tank for the sterile processing system (SPS), distribution pump, new distribution piping for the facility s critical water system, and an air coil to control the temperature of Building 1, Room B231C. Additionally, the contractor shall replace three water softeners and run a new blended hot water line to two faucet taps in the SPS area. This is a single-term, new construction requirement with a 60 calendar-day period of performance.

4. Authority: The following authorities are for actions other than simplified acquisition.

FAR 6.302-1: Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1).

FAR 6.302-2: Unusual and compelling urgency, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2).

FAR 6.302-3: Industrial mobilization, engineering, development, or research capability; or expert services, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3).

FAR 6.302-4: International agreement, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(4).

FAR 6.302-5: Authorized or required by statute, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(5).

FAR 6.302-6: National security, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(6).

FAR 6.302-7: Public interest, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(7).

5. Reasons for Authority Cited:

The User has identified an emergent environmental and bacterial safety concern that has a strong potential of harming both patients and VA employees. In May 2024, the Facility began sampling high levels of bacteria in the critical water used to clean Reusable Medical Devices (RMD). The levels of bacteria measured outside of the limits set forth in the AAMI ST108 standard, resulting in contingency plans needing to be implemented to prevent interruptions to patient care. The SPS Department began acquiring and utilizing sterile bottled water to rinse the RMDs. Additional measures were implemented as attempts to reduce the bacteria count in the critical water system, but none of the measures were successful.

Not only is the high level of bacteria in the water a patient safety and infection control concern, but it is also requiring extra surveillance by Infection Control and the Patient Safety Manager. Additionally, thousands of dollars have been spent towards the acquisition of sterile bottled water to keep SPS operating. SPS staff have spent thousands of man-hours manually rinsing our RMDs and waiting for them to air dry which has caused significant stress, overtime, and altering of staff duties to reprocess the RMDs. This is further contributing to the loss of administrative time to develop SOPs, conduct competencies, and other mandatory administrative tasks. The SPS department has managed to avoid cancelling any patient procedures to date, but it has come at considerable cost to the Government.
6. Actions to Increase Competition: In accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(2), in such that this contract will be procured under the conditions of FAR 6.302-2 (Unusual and Compelling Urgency) and will be a task order against an existing contract. If this action was not urgent and compelling the contracting officer would be procuring this work as a competitive MATOC task order solicitation.

7. Market Research: Again, in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(2), in such that this contract will be procured under the conditions of FAR 6.302-2 (Unusual and Compelling Urgency) market research was determined unnecessary.

On November 4, 2024 a request for proposal was sent to IMS, Inc., an SDVOSB contractor with an active IDIQ at this facility. On November 24, 2024, they submitted a proposal for $427,112 vs. the IGE of $113,080. The contracting offer s representative noted that IMS misinterpreted the scope of work and included unnecessary costs. A meeting was held between IMS, the contracting officer and the facility engineers to review the details. On December 13, 2024, IMS submitted a revised proposal for $279,395 vs. the IGE of $113,080; contractor proposal was 2.47 times greater than the IGE. The contracting officer s representative and the contracting officer, again, determined that the IMS proposal was excessively inflated in order to comply with the 15% SDVOSB performance requirements. During the technical review, the COR Truly 90% of all costs were directly related to the necessary work requirements and the rest a general supervisory and site maintenance.

The contracting officer determined it is not ethical to award a contract this action to IMS, an SDVOSB, due to inflated costs, rather, it is in the government s best interest to change this from an SDVOSB sole-source set-aside to a small-business sole-source set-aside.

8. Procurement History:

Previous Purchase Order(s) or Contract(s): Yes No

Again, in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(2), in such that this contract will be procured under the conditions of FAR 6.302-2 (Unusual and Compelling Urgency) and will be a sole-source action with a small business who regularly performs work at the facility as a subcontractor.
9. Fair and Reasonable Price Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable and is in the overall best interest of the Government. Prior to award, the contracting shall conduct a price analysis to ensure the proposed price is reasonable is comparison with current market conditions and applicable urgency.
10. Approval: I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Based on the foregoing, I approve this sole source justification subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.


Contracting Officer: Kristi Kluck
Contracting Officer
Kristi.Kluck3@va.gov

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Signature Date

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