Sources Sought Page 1 of Page 8 of 8 Sources Sought Page 4 of 8 This Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for Market Research. This is a Request for Information only. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Department of Veterans Affairs, South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) in San Antonio, Texas intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price contract for the purchase of a Cepheid GeneXpert Infinity Service to Cephied. The Government is conducting a market survey to help determine the availability and technical capability of qualified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, and/or other large businesses capable of serving the needs identified below. This Sources Sought Notice is for open market as well as Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) items. If you have these items or similar items on FSS, please respond with your FSS Number. The purpose of this notice is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classification/socioeconomic status (service-disabled veteran-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, women-owned small business, HUB Zone, 8(a), small business or large business, relative to NAICS 811210. Responses to this notice will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. A solicitation is not currently available. If a solicitation is issued, it will be announced on Federal Business Opportunities website http://www.sam.gov or GSA E-Buy at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this announcement. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. Please review the Statement of Work (SOW) below for Cepheid GeneXpert Infinity Service. Please advise if you can provide service for this requirement. Please submit all information to Susan Flores at susan.flores2@va.gov no later than July 3, 2025, 10 AM CST. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Network Contracting Office 17, intends to award a Firm-Fixed priced, contract with four option years. Purpose: The South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) needs preventative service and maintenance for the Cepheid GeneXpert Infinity 48S analyzer, SN: 110024397. The instrumentation is currently housed in the Microbiology section of the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital, 7400 Merton Minter Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78109. Due to the proprietary nature of the instrumentation, only a Certified Cepheid Field Service Engineer (FSE) must work on the GeneXpert Infinity instrumentation. STATEMENT OF WORK Contractor Service Program should include at minimum: Vender provides Advantage Level Service Agreement 24x7 Phone Support Onsite 5x10 hours (8AM 5PM) Annual Preventative Maintenance Check-up performed by Field Service Engineer Includes Parts, Labor & Travel Software Upgrades included 98% Uptime Guarantee Vendor must not proceed with any repairs not expressly listed in the contract and must notify VA personnel before continuing with any work. Location This service and maintenance will be used on the Cepheid GeneXpert Infinity 48S analyzer, SN: 110024397. The instrumentation is currently housed in the Microbiology section of the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital. Deliverables/Supplies As needed service and maintenance on the Cepheid GeneXpert Infinity 48S analyzer, SN: 110024397 Government Inherent Functions: Contractor shall not perform inherently governmental functions. This includes, but is not limited to, determination of agency policy, determination of Federal program priorities for budget requests, direction and control of government employees, selection or non-selection of individuals for Federal Government employment including the interviewing of individuals for employment, approval of position descriptions and performance standards for Federal employees, approving any contractual documents, approval of Federal licensing actions and inspections, and/or determination of budget policy, guidance, and strategy. General Duties, Requirements, and Expectations: Be professionally competent to handle required duties. Work with staff to ensure safety measures are in place and documented. Services provided under the terms of this contract are required to be in compliance with the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation policies and all applicable Federal, State and Government laws required by the Veteran s Healthcare System and VHA Directive 1106. Information Systems Officer, Information Protection:   The contractor will not have access to VA Desktop computers, nor will they have access to online resources belonging to the government while conducting services. If removal of equipment from the VA is required, any memory storage devices, such as hard drives, solid state drives and non-volatile memory units will remain in VA control and will not be removed from VA custody. Privacy Officer: The contractor will not have access to Patient Health Information (PHI), nor will they have the capability of accessing patient information during the services provided to the VA. Records Manager: There will be no federal records created, maintained, used, or dispositioned with this contract; regardless of format [paper, electronic, etc.] or mode of transmission [e-mail, fax, etc.]. ed, maintained, used, or dispositioned with this contract; regardless of format [paper, electronic, etc.] or mode of transmission [e-mail, fax, etc.].
