Veterans Healthcare Supply Solutions, Inc.

B-411904 Nov 12, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Veterans Healthcare Supply Solutions, Inc., (VHSS) of Jacksonville, Florida, protests the award a sole-source contract to PROAIM Americas, LLC, of Grover, Missouri, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. VA246-15-Q-1045, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for brand name argon plasma coagulators (APC). VHSS contends that the sole-source award is not justified and is contrary to applicable procurement laws and regulations. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Veterans Healthcare Supply Solutions, Inc. File:  B-411904 Date:  November 12, 2015 Nicole Hardin Brakstad, Esq., and Thomas A. Coulter, Esq., LeClair Ryan, for the protester. Stephen R. Snodgrass, Esq., Bryan Cave LLP, for PROAIM Americas, LLC, the intervenor. Tyler W. Brown, Esq., and Daniel C. Rattray, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Pedro E. Briones, Esq., and Nora K. Adkins, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest of an award of a sole-source contract for brand name medical equipment is denied where the agency had a rational basis for standardizing such equipment to improve patient safety. DECISION Veterans Healthcare Supply Solutions, Inc., (VHSS) of Jacksonville, Florida, protests the award a sole-source contract to PROAIM Americas, LLC, of Grover, Missouri, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. VA246-15-Q-1045, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for brand name argon plasma coagulators (APC).  VHSS contends that the sole‑source award is not justified and is contrary to applicable procurement laws and regulations. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. BACKGROUND The W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, (VAMC) will open new healthcare centers (HCC) in Kernersville and Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2016.  According to the VAMC’s website, once completed, the two HCCs will provide significantly expanded outpatient services to more than 65,000 North Carolina veterans annually under the Salisbury VAMC’s health care system, including gastrointestinal endoscopy services, for which the APCs are being procured.[1]  VA medical staff will rotate among the VAMC and its new HCCs, as the staff currently does among the medical center and its three community‑based outpatient clinics located in Charlotte, Hickory, and Winston‑Salem, North Carolina.  See Contracting Officer (CO) Statement at 2. In April 2015, the VAMC submitted purchase requests to its regional network contracting office (NCO)[2] for nine name brand ERBE APCs for the endoscopy rooms at the new HCCs.  Id. at 1. On July 7, in response to the purchase requests, the NCO posted a sources sought notice on the FedBizOpps website advising that the VA was contemplating awarding a contract for APCs for a local VAMC and that the agency was seeking information on available brands of APCs.  See Agency Report (AR), Tab A, Sources Sought Notice, at 9-11.  Interested firms were requested to respond to a number of questions, including whether their APCs required training; whether they were made to order, or in stock and ready to ship; their lead time for delivery; and their ease of use.  Id. at 2-3.  Firms were also to identify competing brands, manufacturers, and models, and essentially compare the devices’ operational differences and required components.  See id. The agency received responses from five manufacturers and five authorized distributors or sellers--including VHSS, a service‑disabled, veteran-owned small business that sells APCs manufactured by US Medical Innovations, LLC, (USMI) and PROAIM, a small business that is ERBE’s distributor for government sales.[3]  See AR, Tab A, Market Research Report, at 12-30. A NCO contract specialist reviewed the responses and questioned whether a brand name purchase was justified given that other APC brands were available and that the two HCCs were new facilities.  AR, Tab B, NCO Contract Specialist-VAMC Admin. Officer Emails, July 13, 2015, at 1‑2.  The contract specialist asked the VAMC to explain its rationale for requesting ERBE brand APCs, and pointed out that four other brands of APCs were available.  See id.; CO Statement at 2.  The VAMC explained that all Salisbury VAMC sites of care currently have ERBE APCs, that medical staff rotate among the various sites, including the new HCCs as noted above (“someone might be in Salisbury today and Kernerville tomorrow”), and that for direct patient care, the VAMC strives to use identical equipment for the same clinical use.  See AR, Tab B, NCO Contract Specialist-VAMC Admin.