V--Transplant Patient Lodging BPA Amendment

The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions posed from solicitation 36C25920Q0097. 1. I was just curious if there are precedents for how many rooms you expect the VA to be using each night and whether most are used or relinquished? Reference Section 3.a - A minimum of Thirty (30) rooms per day are required to be reserved for VA veterans who are associated with the transplant program. And Section 3.d - Rooms shall be available Sundays thru Saturday. i. un-reserved rooms shall be released back to the hotel at 5 p.m. daily. The VA shall not be obligated to pay for rooms that are released back to the hotel on time. I also wanted to know if there were precedent price ranges you could share? Pricing shall be based on the current market in Salt Lake City 2. SOW Section 3 item c. & f.: In Item c. ..one bedroom, to accommodate veteran and a care giver,.. and again in item f. One bedroom with a sofa sleeper,.. ; Do you require a separate bedroom (suites) with a function bedroom door or will studio design with seating area and beds in one room be acceptable? The requirement is for at least one (1) bedroom; a studio design is not acceptable. 3. Do you need 2 beds in the room or just one bed and a sofa sleeper as stated in item f.? The requirement in section 3.c and 3.f both state one (1) bedroom is required. The other bed is required to be at least a sofa sleeper. 4. SOW Section 3 item f.: requires fully equipped kitchen to include a stove. Will convection microwave ovens and countertop hot plates suffice for the stove requirement? A convection microwave and a cooktop imbedded in the countertop will be acceptable. Countertop hot plates are not acceptable. 5. SOW Section 5 item c.: states: The Veterans, upon scheduling an appointment with the VA, will be informed by SLCVAHCS staff, to immediately call the assigned hotel/motel to verify reservations. Note: This is troublesome. If veterans are immediately calling a hotel that has not received a reservation request it will waste hotel man hours and also VA staff man hours as the hotel will be referring the veteran back to their VA representative if a reservation has not been received. I would suggest the veterans call the hotel 48 hours prior to ARRIVAL or lodging date instead. Section 5.c is hereby changed to read - The Veterans upon scheduling an appointment will be informed by SLCVAHCS staff, to call the assigned hotel to verify reservations. 6. Are we permitted to offer apartment units in response to both above-referenced solicitations? If all the requirements are met, the offer may be for apartments for this solicitation. 7. Are they staying for the whole month everyday or just one week out of each month? The average stay is between 1 week and 18 months. 10. Please clarify the Medical Center will arrange room reservations with the Hotel. Yes, with a CC d copy to the contractor. 11. Who do you view as the Lodging Coordinator? The veteran travel schedulers at the medical center. The Lodging Management Group is the contractor. 12. What is the Non-VA Temp Lodging Referral Voucher and Who does it apply too? It is a voucher provided to the veteran from the VA authorizing the hotel stay. 13. Who will pay for the Non-VA Temp Lodging Referral Voucher? The voucher is provided from the VA travel schedulers to the veterans. 14. Shuttle/Transportation is recommended, but not required as part of the contract award? This solicitation requires shuttle service. Reference section 7. 15. SOW Item 3.f. notes the requirement of a stove . Do you require a range meaning a stove top and oven combination for baking/cooking or just a stove top with burners? A convection microwave and a cooktop imbedded in the countertop will be acceptable. Countertop hot plates are not acceptable. A range, meaning stovetop with burners and an oven are acceptable.