AIMS Locum Tenens, LLC (W81K00-21-R-3005)

B-419723 Jul 13, 2021 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights AIMS Locum Tenens, LLC, an 8(a) small business of Pikesville, Maryland, protests the evaluation of its proposal as technically unacceptable under request for proposals (RFP) No. W81K00-21-R-3005, issued by the Department of the Army to provide emergency medicine physician services at Evans Army Community Hospital, Emergency Department, Fort Carson, Colorado. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of its proposed compensation plan. We deny the protest. 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:  AIMS Locum Tenens, LLC File:  B-419723 Date:  July 13, 2021 Johnathan Bailey, Esq., and Kristin Zachman, Esq., Bailey & Bailey, P.C., for the protester. Major Nicholas A. Lucchetti, and Captain Ethan S. Chae, Department of the Army, for the agency. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Evan C. Williams, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenges regarding ambiguities in the solicitation are untimely because any ambiguities were patent and were not challenged prior to the due date for receipt of proposals. 2.  Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of proposal as technically unacceptable is denied where the record shows that the agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation’s terms. DECISION AIMS Locum Tenens, LLC, an 8(a) small business of Pikesville, Maryland, protests the evaluation of its proposal as technically unacceptable under request for proposals (RFP) No. W81K00-21-R-3005, issued by the Department of the Army to provide emergency medicine physician services at Evans Army Community Hospital, Emergency Department, Fort Carson, Colorado.[1]  The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of its proposed compensation plan. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation was issued on November 12, 2020, pursuant to FAR parts 12 and 15, as a set-aside for 8(a) firms.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFP at 1.  The RFP contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for a base year and four 1-year option periods.  Id. at 83.  Award was to be made on a best‑value tradeoff basis, considering the evaluation factors of past performance, compensation plan, and price.[2]  Id. at 86.  The RFP contemplated a phased approach to the evaluation of proposals where proposals had to be successfully evaluated under each phase in order to be considered in the next phase.  Id. at 87.  Proposals were evaluated first for past performance, and then compensation plan, and finally, price.  Id. The solicitation instructed that proposals be prepared in a number of separate volumes including, administrative, past performance, compensation plan, and pricing.  Id. at 75.  As to an offeror’s compensation plan, the solicitation instructed, as follows: Compensation Plan:  Offerors shall include a total employee compensation plan for the base period and each option period indicating the hourly rate.  A sample compensation plan worksheet is included at Attachment 3.  NOTE:  For Personal Services Contracts, Total compensation for health care providers shall not exceed either $400,000 per year (to include bonuses and incentives) or the Full Time Equivalent Rate (FTER) of $208.33 based on Title 10 U.S.C. Section 1091.  Id. at 76 (emphasis omitted).  Relevant here, the solicitation also included the following warning regarding the compensation to be paid to emergency medical physicians under this contract: In no case shall the total amount of compensation paid to an individual in any year under a Personal Services Contract exceed the full time equivalent rate of $400,000.00 or $208.33/hour, as established under Section 102 of title 3, chapter 2, United States Code.  The number of hours one employee can work on a full-time schedule is 1,920 ($400,000/1,920 hours = $208.33/hour).  Id.