J&A Notice Bridge Extension

Justification and Approval (J&A) for an Exception to Fair Opportunity Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Subpart 16.5 Indefinite-Delivery Contracts Title: Registered Nurse services at NMCP, Branch Medical Clinics and Tricare Prime Clinics (N6264520F0063) 2. Nature and/or Description of Action being Approved: Modification to an existing contract/Individual This request is for a bridge action to add 6-month extension and a 6-month option to the current task order (N6264520D0063) to allow time for contracting to complete the Task Order Proposal Request which will allow for fair opportunity for all contractors on the Multiple Award IDIQ MQS2 contract vehicle.

3. Description of Supplies/ Services: Registered Nurse services in support of The Emergency Department at Naval Medical Cent er Portsmouth, Branch Medical Clinics and Tricare Prime Clinics.

TOTAL Contract Value BASE POP:

From 3/1/2025 to 2/28/2026 POP: From 3/1/2025 to 8/31/2025 Estimated Value $1,907,217.40 Estimated Value $953,608.70 BASE POP:

From 3/1/2025 to 8/31/2025 Type of Contract (Primary): OPTIONS FAR 16.202 Firm-Fixed-Price Number of options: 1 POP (All options): From 9/1/2025 to 2/28/2026 Estimated Value (all options): $953,608.70 Funding Type: Operations & Maintenance (O&M) 4. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 4104, and Regulatory Authority (see FAR 16.505).

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) -- Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. 5. Rationale Justifying Use of the Statutory Authority Cited: This requirement is a bridge in order to mitigate a lapse in services to support the mission of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and supporting Branch Health Clinics and Tricare Prime Clinics.

A lapse in service would impact patient care severely enough to necessitate shutting down services within the Military Treatment Facilities (MTF). Sole source procurement is recommended because the labor categories included on this task order have unique qualifications, and there is not sufficient time to allow for a new contractor to recruit for all services required.

The Procurement Lead Time allowing for fair opportunity under the Multiple Award IDIQ is 60 calendar days, including time (60 calendar days) to allow a potential new awardee to recruit or retain incumbent employees.

The current task order expires 28 February 2025. 6. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: The contracting officer will use an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) and comparison to historical rates to make a determination that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable for this short-term bridge action.

7. Description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted: Market Research Conducted?

No Provide Rationale: Market research has been completed at the enterprise level for all Medical Q-coded Services,(MQS) efforts. The MQS contract vehicle is a mandatory source of supply for Medical Q-coded Services, which these are. Sources are limited to those contractors with an award under the MQS contracting vehicle. All awardees under this Multiple Award IDIQ were small business contractors at time of award of the base contracts.

8. Other Facts: Services provided by incumbents are already established at the MTF and performance is considered satisfactory. If fair opportunity procedures were followed, the re-competed contract would be awarded 1 December 2025. Allowing for the vendor's 90-day start-up period would mean services would not start until 1 March 2026. If this bridge action is not allowed, the MTF will lose critical services for 90 days and may not be able to provide healthcare services to the affected patient population.

Due to time constraints, a 6-month sole source bridge extension w/ an additional 6-month option to the current task order is being added in order to mitigate a lapse in service while the competitive requirement is being worked. 9. Actions to overcome barriers: The long-term plan for this acquisition is to allow fair opportunity under the new MQS2 Next Generation contracting vehicle. The current MQS contract will expire in November 2027. Which will only leave two years for the contract.

The new MQS2NG Contract is not currently available to use to fulfill this action due to a small business protest. Once available, this contract will be recompeted and awarded and will have an extended contract life. The contracting team is still working to solidify the departments' needs for the re-competed effort.

As such, it has been determined that there is not enough time to complete the fair opportunity award and allow a 90-day start-up period for the successful offeror by 1 March 2025. This bridge action will allow the contracting staff additional time to get the fair opportunity awards in place under the new MQS2NG contract in time for services to begin by 1 March 2026.