Kako'o Spectrum Healthcare Solutions, LLC (M00264-22-R-0008)

B-421127.5,B-421127.6 May 28, 2025 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Kako'o Spectrum Healthcare Solutions, LLC (KSHS), a small business of Honolulu, Hawaii, protests the award of a contract to Cognito Systems, LLC, a small business of Newport News, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. M00264-22-R-0008, issued by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for the services of certified athletic trainers and strength and conditioning specialists for the USMC's sports medicine and injury program (SMIP). The protester primarily asserts that the agency unreasonably evaluated proposals. 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: Kako'o Spectrum Healthcare Solutions, LLC File: B-421127.5; B-421127.6 Date: May 28, 2025 Amy Laderberg O’Sullivan, Esq., Zachary H. Schroeder, Esq., and Issac D. Schabes, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for the protester. Todd R. Overman, Esq., Sylvia Yi, Esq., and Adam R. Briscoe, Esq., Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC, for Cognito Systems, LLC, the intervenor. John Sabatino, Esq., Terri M. Sumner, Esq., and Christopher S. Colby, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency. Christine Martin, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that the agency unreasonably evaluated portions of the awardee’s technical volume that exceeded page limitations is denied where the record shows the protester was not competitively prejudiced by the agency’s waiver of the page limitations requirement. 2. Protest that the agency unreasonably evaluated the awardee’s technical volume is denied where the record shows the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 3. Protest that the agency should have assigned additional strengths to the protester’s technical volume is denied where the record shows the agency reasonably exercised its discretion not to assign additional strengths. DECISION Kako’o Spectrum Healthcare Solutions, LLC (KSHS), a small business of Honolulu, Hawaii, protests the award of a contract to Cognito Systems, LLC, a small business of Newport News, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. M00264-22-R-0008, issued by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for the services of certified athletic trainers and strength and conditioning specialists for the USMC’s sports medicine and injury program (SMIP). The protester primarily asserts that the agency unreasonably evaluated proposals. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on August 2, 2022, sought to procure the services of certified athletic trainers and strength and conditioning specialists for the USMC’s SMIP. Agency Report (AR), Tab 7, RFP amend. 0005, Performance Work Statement (PWS) at ¶¶ 1.2-1.3. SMIP was created to reduce injuries and lost workdays caused by musculoskeletal injuries. Id. The RFP anticipates that the trainers and specialists will provide state-of-the art professional services to assist injured marines and accelerate their return to duty. Id. The RFP, set aside for small businesses, contemplated the award of a fixed-price indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to be performed over five 1-year ordering periods, with the option to extend the contract for an additional six months. AR, Tab 1, RFP at 73. Award would be made to the offeror whose proposal represented the best value to the government based on the following factors, listed in descending order of importance: management and staffing approach, past performance, and price. RFP amend. 0005 at 17-20. Offerors were to submit their proposals in four volumes, each with its own page limit. The volume for management and staffing approach, the only factor at issue here, had a 50-page limit. Id. at 14. Under the management and staffing approach factor, the agency would evaluate each offeror’s approach to meeting the PWS requirements. Specifically, the agency would evaluate the offeror’s experience in managing similar programs and how the offeror would provide continuous, quality, and timely support. The agency would also evaluate the offeror’s plan to locate, recruit, and retain athletic trainers and strength and conditioning specialists. This plan was to include an approach to mitigating competition from other firms seeking to hire the trainers and specialists. Finally, the agency would evaluate the offeror’s operational plan for effective communication between the government and the offeror’s employees. RFP amend. 0005 at 19. Under this factor, the agency would assign a rating of outstanding, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable. Id. at 18. The USMC received proposals from 11 vendors, including KSHS, the incumbent contractor, and Cognito.