The Department of Energy is requesting bids for a contract valued at $102 million to provide occupational medicine services at Hanford.
The contract is reserved for a company that qualifies as a small business, a change from when the contract was last bid and awarded in 2004 for up to 10 years.
The new contract is anticipated to be awarded in coordination with the expected expiration in 2014 of the contract held by CSC Hanford Occupational Health Services, formerly AdvanceMed Hanford. It's owned by CSC, which has about 97,000 employees.
"We're geared toward acquiring a high quality contract whose performance of medical services promotes a healthy and capable Hanford work force," said DOE spokesman Geoff Tyree.
The bid request is for a contract with a two-year base award followed by four possible one-year extensions for a total of six years. The $102 million estimated cost and contractor payment amount is for the full six years.
Bids, called proposals in the federal government system, are due Jan. 18.
The contractor would provide services to about 8,000 contractor, DOE and other employees at the Hanford nuclear reservation. It would be required to operate a clinic at 1979 Snyder St. in Richland and one in central Hanford.
The contractor would provide support for epidemiological studies of current and former Hanford workers, the Hanford Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. It provides compensation and reimbursement of medical care for workers ill due to radioactive or chemical exposures at Hanford or other DOE sites.
The draft bid request had a lower estimated value of $85 million, but it proposed a total five years for the contract rather than the six years possible in the final bid request.
In evaluating bid proposals, the combined technical evaluation factors will be significantly more important than the evaluated price, according to the request for bids.
"The government is more concerned with obtaining a superior technical proposal than making an award at the lowest evaluated price," it said. However, a bid will not be picked if the price is disproportionate to the benefits of the bid compared to others.
Technical criterion that will carry the most weight will be past performance and key personnel. That will be followed by technical approach and corporate experience.
The contract form will be a hybrid that includes a fixed price plus an award fee, a cost reimbursement with no fee and additional work possible under an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity option.
-- Annette Cary: 582-1533; acary@tricityherald.com; more Hanford news at hanfordnews.com
