SAM #36C25927Q0058

VA market research for automated blood bank analyzer rental and reagents

The Department of Veterans Affairs is researching a rental-and-reagent arrangement for blood bank testing at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. - Government buyer: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Network Contracting Office 19 (NCO 19); contract specialist: Phoebe Farmer. - OEMs and vendors: No OEM, manufacturer, reseller, or vendor is named in the notice. - Requested products and services: - Rental of one new, current-production automated blood bank solid-phase analyzer; no model, part number, or quantity is specified. - Associated reagents and consumables, including monthly routine cell suspension reagents; no part numbers or quantities are specified. - Instrument rental, reagent supply, maintenance, and technical support. - Key requirements: ABO/Rh testing including reflex Weak D, antibody screening and identification, antigen phenotyping, direct antiglobulin testing (DAT), and donor-unit crossmatching. The system must handle rouleaux, lipemic, icteric, and hemolyzed specimens and provide Type & Screen results within 26 minutes. - The analyzer must include automated washing and centrifugation, a printer, an incubator capable of simultaneous runs, quality-control data storage and reporting, temperature records, and a contractor-provided and maintained UPS. Hardware and operating-system upgrades must be included at no additional cost. - Reagents must support manual tube testing as a backup during analyzer downtime; otherwise, a second analyzer is required. Contractor support must maintain at least 95% monthly uptime. - This is a sources-sought market research notice, not a solicitation or award.

Description

Notice This is a Sources Sought Notice, not a solicitation. Questions will not be answered. All responses should be submitted by November 25, 2026, at 1630 CST.

Sources Sought Notice: Automated Blood Bank Solid Phase Analyzer and Associated Reagents/Consumables to Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (RMRVAMC) Disclaimer This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for market research information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

Information Requested from Industry In response to the Sources Sought, interested Contractors shall submit the following information and any Capabilities/Qualifications Statement, including but not limited to an overview of proposed solution(s) and a description of the product your company possesses in accordance with the Statement of Work draft / Salient Characteristics List. Responses to the market research table questionnaire shall be submitted. If this information is not provided, then it will be assumed the entire requirement cannot be met.

Description of Requirement The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Network Contracting Office 19 (NCO 19) is conducting a market survey and is seeking potential sources for an instrument rental reagent agreement for an Automated Blood Bank Solid Phase Analyzer and Associated Reagents/Consumables for the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. This Sources Sought Notice is issued for information and planning purposes only. This is not a solicitation or a request for proposal and shall not be construed as an obligation or commitment by the Government. An award will not be made on any offers submitted in response to this notice, and it shall not be implied that the Government is committed to providing any solicitation or award following this notice. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this request, nor will the Government compensate a respondent for any costs incurred in developing the information provided. Period of Performance: 04/01/2027 through 03/31/2032

General Requirements System must be new and in current production. Remanufactured and discontinued models are unacceptable. System must be capable of performing the following tests on its solid phase automated analyzer: ABO/Rh Negative Rh Test reflexed to Weak D Antibody Screen, 3 cell screening panel required Antibody Identification of: Anti-EAnti-eAnti-CAnti-cAnti-KAnti-kAnti-DAnti-fAnti-JkaAnti-JkbAnti-FyaAnti-FybAnti-MAnti-NAnti-SAnti-sAnti-P1Anti-LeaAnti-LebAnti-LuaAnti-Lub Antigen Phenotyping of: Anti-EAnti-eAnti-CAnti-cAnti-K Direct Antiglobulin Test (DAT) Crossmatching Donor Units with patient samples Ability to handle rouleaux, lipemic, icteric, and hemolyzed specimens. Define the actual hands-on maintenance time required for daily, weekly, monthly, and as needed maintenance. Contractor is to include the analyzer time required to perform each maintenance task and list which tasks are performed at the user level and which tasks are performed at the service level. Provide a comprehensive quality control (QC) program which includes the following options: QC files that can be edited or corrected for errors On-board quality control data storage and reporting capabilities DVD for data archive Ability to alert operator of QC failures Daily QC performance within 30 minutes System must be able to record and display temperature records. System must contain an automated cell washer with a wash cycle of less than 5 minutes and allow for processing of lipemic or icteric samples. System must have a centrifuge with automatic load/unload. System must contain a printer and necessary replacements and an incubator capable of processing multiple runs simultaneously. The turnaround time for a Type & Screen shall be within 26 minutes. A monthly standing order for routine cell suspension reagents shall be provided. Reagents utilized for the analyzer must also be compatible with manual tube testing, which will serve as the backup testing method in the event of analyzer downtime. If the reagents cannot be utilized in this manner, it will be necessary to procure a second analyzer to serve as a backup to ensure continuous testing capability. Equipment must conform to the facility's existing space. The system shall be capable of producing accurate and reproducible assays on biological samples with FDA-approved methods for in vitro diagnostic methods. The model shall provide accurate test assay results up to the manufacturer's defined maximum test per hour without excessive malfunctions, breakdowns, or service calls. All upgrades to the hardware and operating system software shall be offered at no additional cost to the Government. These enhancements shall be delivered and installed within 60 days of issuance to the commercial market. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) will be provided and maintained by the contractor. The system shall maintain an uptime of 95% in each month of the term of the agreement.

Market Research Table Questionnaire In response to this announcement, please provide the information requested below in this market research table questionnaire. If this information is not provided, then it will be assumed the entire requirement cannot be met. NAICS Code: Company Name: Address: UEI (Unique Entity ID) Number: Contact Name: Phone No.: Email: Business Size Information — Select all that apply Small Business Emerging Small Business Small Disadvantaged Business Certified under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act HUBZone Woman Owned Certified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Veteran Owned Small Business Large Business FSS/GSA Contract Holder: Yes / No FSS/GSA Contract Number: Effective Date / Expiration Date: Proposed solution is listed and available on the above FSS/GSA Contract: Yes / No

Available Pricing Structure of Proposed Solution Pricing Model — Please indicate availability below (Yes / No / NA) All on FSS Open Market only Mix of FSS & Open Market Firm-Fixed Price (FFP)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Market Research Questions Buy American Act RFO 52.225-1 and RFO 52.225-2 Buy American Certificate What percentage of the proposed product (including leases and rentals) is a: Domestic end product? _____________ (%) Foreign end product? _______________ (%) Country of Origin:

Questions for Small Businesses ONLY Limitations on Subcontracting RFO 52.219-14 What percentage of the work would be subcontracted to another company? _____ What is the business size of the subcontractor? _ Per RFO 52.219-14, the following conditions must be met: Services (except construction): It will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. When a contract includes both services and supplies, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the service portion of the contract; Supplies (other than procurement from a nonmanufacturer of such supplies): It will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. When a contract includes both supplies and services, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the supply portion of the contract; If subcontracting, what added value do you offer (RFO 52.215-23): Nonmanufacturer Rule (RFO 52.219-33) Does your company manufacture these proposed items? [ ] yes [ ] no Does your company exceed 500 employees? [ ] yes [ ] no. If yes, list # of employees: ____ Is your company primarily engaged in the retail or wholesale trade and does it normally sell the type of item being supplied? [ ] yes [ ] no Does your company take ownership or possession of the item(s) with its personnel, equipment, or facilities in a manner consistent with industry practice? [ ] yes [ ] no Does your company supply the end item of a small business manufacturer, processor, or producer made in the United States, or obtain a waiver of such requirement pursuant to paragraph (b)(5) CFR 121.406? [ ] yes [ ] no. If yes, what is the manufacturer's name? _____________

Submission Instructions The information submitted shall contain the company's business size status. This is a request for information and sources only, which may or may not lead to a future solicitation. This is not a request for quote (RFQ). No questions will be answered. The VA will not pay for any information received resulting from this Sources Sought Notice. Requests for copies of a solicitation shall not be honored or acknowledged. Information should be forwarded to the Contracting Officer. If your organization can provide all services of this potential requirement and is interested in this opportunity, please respond to Phoebe Farmer, Pheobe.Farmer@va.gov, Contract Specialist, Department of Veterans Affairs, NCO 19, 6162 S. Willow Drive, Suite 300, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111, and NCO19lab@va.gov with a statement describing your capabilities and the completed table above. The capability statement shall include a point of contact, complete mailing address, telephone number, email address, and state the company's business size status. Deadline: The deadline for this information to be received is 16:30 PM Central Standard Time, 11/25/2026.

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