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The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Network Contracting Office 20 (NCO 20) is conducting a market survey/sources sought notification and is seeking potential sources for an
This Sources Sought Notice is issued for information and planning purposes only. This is not a solicitation or a request for proposal and shall not be construed as an obligation or commitment by the Government. An award will not be made on any offers submitted in response to this notice, and it shall not be implied the Government is committed to providing any solicitation or award following this notice. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this request, nor will the Government compensate a respondent for any costs incurred in developing the information provided. Â
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Responses shall be submitted to Nick Price at Nicholas.Price@va.gov by COB 16:30 PST 01/21 /2023 SUBJECT: RFI 36C26023Q0190
This notice is intended strictly for market research. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to determine interest and capability of potential qualified sources of supply and determine the socioeconomic size classification of the supplier and manufacturer of the end item.Â
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Interested companies shall provide, at a minimum, the following information with their response;Â Â
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Company Name and Address:Â
Point of Contact (POC)Â
Name:Â
Email Address:Â
Phone Number:Â
UNIQUE SAM ID
Brochures of their offered equipment or services.
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The anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 513120 Periodical publishers. Mark if your firm is eligible for participation in one of the following small business programs. If so, please indicate the program: Â
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[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Business (SB)Â Â Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - HUBZone  Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Business 8(a)Â Â Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)Â Â Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - Women-Owned (WO) Small Business Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)Â Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB)Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - Large Business  Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Other (please specify)Â Â Â
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Please answer the following questions:Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no - Does not exceed 1,250employees; (for NAICSÂ 33314) must be verifiable thru the System for Award Management)Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no Is primarily engaged in the retail or wholesale trade and normally sells the type of item being supplied;Â Â
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[ ] yes [ ] no Takes ownership or possession of the item(s) with its personnel, equipment or facilities in a manner consistent with industry practice (identify how this occurs); and Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no Will supply the end item of a small business manufacturer, processor or producer made in the United States, or obtains a waiver of such requirement pursuant to paragraph (b)(5) CFR 121.406.Â
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Note: Do not include Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in responses.Â
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In addition to providing the information requested above, responding companies are encouraged to include any relevant information (specifications, cut sheets, brochures, capability statement, past experience etc.) to confirm the company s ability to meet the requirements outlined in this request. Â
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Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract or agreement. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued.Â
1. Contract Title. Journal Subscriptions
2. Background.
The VA Portland Health Care System purchases access to a variety of medical journals to support the clinical staff in staying informed and being able to provide evidence-based clinical care. To avoid multiple subscriptions expiring at a wide variety of times, and due to the number of subscriptions, the library utilizes a third party to set up those subscriptions.
3. Scope.
This contract will provide subscriptions for a number of medical journals for the time period of 2/1/23-12/31/23. This is a request for a base + 4 option year contract, with the final option year ending 12/31/27.

The list of the journals needing subscription for the VA Portland Health Care System is in an attached spreadsheet.

**Please note: the previous contract for journal subscriptions had a period of performance that began February 1st. However, most of the journal subscriptions run on a calendar year basis, and for several years in a row would automatically turn off access on January first, causing extra work to reach out and explain the subscription should run through the month of January and would be renewed in February. Therefore, this is a request that the base year of this new contract have a period of performance for 11 months, beginning 2/1/23, and that all subsequent option years have a period of performance of January-December of that year.

4. Specific Tasks.
WT Cox, or the contract awardee, must arrange subscriptions for the VA Portland Health Care System as identified by the VA Portland Medical Librarian. All subscriptions are electronic, unless that journal is only available in print, or as noted as the preferred format in the spreadsheet listing required subscriptions. In cases that both are available, the librarian identifies which format(s) are preferred. Access to the journals is handled via IP validation as much as possible. When that is not possible, the login information must be provided to the Medical Librarian.

In the event that access to journal content in the middle of a subscription occurs, and WT Cox or the contract awardee is notified as such by the Medical Librarian, prompt contact must be made with the journal vendor to resolve the issue, and the Medical Librarian must be kept promptly appraised of how the issue is being resolved. This may include updating the IP addresses on file with the vendor.

In addition, the contract awardee should be willing to serve as the intermediary, if necessary, for the Medical Librarian to be able to pull usage statistic reports for the journal. This may require contacting the journal and assuring that an administrator account is set up for the Medical Librarian and can be accessed at any time by the VA Portland Health Care System Medical Librarian.

5. Performance Monitoring (if applicable).
The librarian at the VA Portland Health Care System must be able to access the journals identified and requested. Journals or materials which are only available in print format must arrive at the VA Portland Health Care System according to schedule.
6. Security Requirements.
The contractor employees shall not have access to VA sensitive or computer information and will not require routine access to VA Facilities. The contractor employees shall require intermittent access only and will be escorted by VA employees while at VA Facilities. No background investigation is required

7. Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government-Furnished Information (GFI).
No government-furnished equipment or information will be part of this contract.

8. Other Pertinent Information or Special Considerations.
As noted in the scope section above, the previous contract for journal subscriptions had a period of performance that began February 1st. However, most of the journal subscriptions run on a calendar year basis, and for several years in a row would automatically turn off access on January first, causing extra work to reach out and explain the subscription should run through the month of January and would be renewed in February. Therefore, this is a request that the base year of this new contract have a period of performance for 11 months, beginning 2/1/23, and that all subsequent option years have a period of performance of January-December of that year.
9. Risk Control
This contract does not contain any real risk. Access to the journal content is provided via the internet, and does not contain any protected health information, nor does it involve any information about the VA.
10. Place of Performance.
VA Portland Health Care System employees will access the journals provided under this contract either on-site, or with a remote access account, currently provided via the LibLynx platform.
11. Period of Performance.
The requested contract period is February 1, 2023 December 31, 2027. Please note that the first year will be 11 months long, to bring the contract in line with the regular subscription period for medical journals. I would like to request base plus four option years.
12. Delivery Schedule.
No reports need to be submitted during the period of performance.

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