This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products and/or services. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise because of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort.

The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing its acquisition approach, statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this Sources Sought Notice or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice.

The submission of pricing, capabilities for planning purposes, and other market information is highly encouraged and allowed under this Sources Sought Notice in accordance with (IAW) FAR Part 15.201(e). The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the products and/or services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition.

Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) Company Name; (b) Address; (c) Point of Contact; (d) Phone, Fax, and Email; (e) UEI Number; (f) Cage Code; (g) Tax ID Number; (h) Type of Small Business, e.g., Services Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, or Small Business HUBZone business, etc.; (i) State if your business has an FSS contract with GSA, VA NAC, NASA SEWP, or any other federal contract, that can be utilized to procure the requirement listed below and provide the contract number; and (j) Must provide a capability statement that addresses the organization s qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below.

Requirement: The VA Heartland Network 15 Contracting Office located at 3450 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048-5055 is seeking a potential qualified contractor to provide instrumentation, installation, and training for an automated digital microbiology laboratory system to the Environmental Laboratory located at the VA St. Louis Healthcare System, in St. Louis, Missouri. Please see Statement of Work for more specifics and details. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS Code) is 339112 (Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing), size standard 1,000 Employees. Based on this information, please indicate whether your company would be a Large or Small Business and have a socio-economic designation as a Small Business, VOSB or SDVOSB.

Important Information: The Government is not obligated to, nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this source sought synopsis request. 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 an acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. Currently a total set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms is anticipated based on the Veterans Administration requirement with Public Law 109-461, Section 8127 Veterans Benefit Act. However, if response by Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms proves inadequate, an alternate set-aside or full and open may be used.

Responses to this notice shall be submitted via email to Mickeya Linzie at mickeya.linzie@va.gov. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received no later than Friday, July 22, 2022, at 8:00AM CST. If a solicitation is issued it shall be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this sources sought. Responses to this sources sought notice are not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of the solicitation.

STATEMENT OF WORK DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS VA ST. LOUIS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM ST. LOUIS, MO INTRODUCTION: The Environmental Microbiology Laboratory provides services and laboratory testing for other services in the medical center (dental, dialysis, engineering, and pharmacy) to assess the water quality and or sterile processing technique to ensure patient safety. Detection and isolation of organisms are an important part of the work done in this laboratory and are essential in ensuring a safe patient care environment. The contractor shall provide instrumentation, installation, and training for an automated digital environmental microbiology laboratory system.

SCOPE OF WORK: Total lab automation for microbiology would include a specimen processing system, smart incubator(s), and computerized digital workstations. This equipment would save on technologist time, improve standardization of testing, and improve turnaround time for microbiology cultures. The introduction of automated and electronic culture monitoring transforms the microbiology lab by providing a number of benefits, including standardization and significant reduction in the amount of technologist time needed for negative cultures. The biggest payoff is the potential to screen specimens more easily 24/7 and release those results. This instrumentation would allow the VASTLHCS Environmental Microbiology Laboratory to extend testing services to other VA s that do not have an accredited environmental lab. The VASTLHCS lab is looking to create a lease to own option for this equipment, consisting of one base year and four option years. Minimum Technical Specifications The operating system must be compatible with VA IT standards. The system must have the ability to be connected to VISTA via Data Innovations. Vendor must meet VA security requirements to be able to remotely connect and service the instrumentation. The system must allow for full sample traceability using uniquely barcoded disposable culture plates. The system must be able to accept multiple media types/containers. The plating system must be able to inoculate and spread a calibrated volume of 100 and 200 microliters onto solid agar plates. Instrument installation must include all upgrades, databases, etc included in initial purchase. Instrument must be capable of adding future advancements and additions to the laboratory system. Vendor led training must be provided. Training shall include system operations as well as basic trouble shooting and repair. If training is to be conducted off site, the cost shall be all-including, (e.g., air fare, auto rental, room and board, training materials, etc.) for each participant. Traceability of each agar plate(s) or other testing is easy. The system shall not require cleaning materials or decontamination other than what is included in periodic maintenance but can be easily cleaned/decontaminated if necessary. The contractor shall provide applicable manuals and schedules upon delivery and installation of equipment. The contractor shall provide a technical expert capable of unpacking the instrument and all required materials to perform installation. The contractor shall provide upgrades to both the equipment hardware and software in order to maintain the integrity of the system and the state-of-the-art technology at no additional charge to the customer after the initial install of the system. These must be provided as they become commercially available and at the same time as they are being provided to commercial customers. This requirement only applies to system upgrades that enhance the model of equipment being offered, i.e. new version of software, including database upgrades, correction of hardware defect, upgrade offered to commercial customers at no additional charge, upgrade to replace model of equipment no longer vendor supported, etc. Instrument can be serviced/calibrated remotely. Instrument should be custom per the laboratory s needs, and automate tasks as they are currently performed by microbiology staff Instrument should include a track system to move from specimen processor to incubators where they are automatically loaded and photographed at programed intervals for easy review by technologists via a computer screen. Incubators should automatically monitor temperature, CO2 (as applicable) and humidity via NIST calibrated devices and records those values. Camera s contained in the laboratory system must be able to take high quality digital pictures at different angles and/or lighting conditions and store them for comparison. Reading times can be customized for each laboratory. Additional work up for positive cultures can be ordered at each workstation, and additional culture work up should become as automated as possible (automatic preparation of ID or AST panels or MALDI-TOF slides or gram stains). Electronic culture logs can easily be reviewed and remove the need for the laboratory to possess paper logbooks. System footprint should fit within the current laboratory layout and not require the laboratory to be remodeled. The operator must provide these items within 90 days of purchase Have the capability for CO2, non-CO2 incubators. Optional/Value Added Features Have touch screen monitors for easy use and navigation. Laboratory system contains automated microscopes to aid in the reading and visual storage of gram stain results. Incubators have the capability to incubate tubed and bagged media. Required Interfaces Instrument/software must be able to communicate with the following instruments/interfaces: Data Innovations, Vista, and eventually MYLA.