A. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Offers are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. B. The Great Plains Area Indian Health Service (IHS) intends to award a firm fixed-price, non-personal healthcare service, commercial item, single award, purchase order for Optometrist Staffing Services at the Woodrow Wilson Keeble Memorial Health Care Center, Sisseton, South Dakota in response to RFQ 75H70626Q00214. This acquisition will be conducted under FAR Part 12. C. This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses by reference in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2026-01, and the FAR Overhaul. The full text of provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at www.acquisition.gov. D.This RFQ is set aside 100% Indian Economic Enterprise Small Business (ISBEE) and the associated NAICS Code is 621320, which has a small business standard of $9 million. E. The quoted unit pricing must be “all inclusive” (to include but not be limited to regular hours, holidays, overtime, weeknight, weekends, call back, travel, lodging, per diem, fringe benefits, federal, state and local taxes) plus all other costs pertinent to the performance of this contract. Utilize your most competitive and reasonable pricing. Two (2) Optometrist Services – See Performance Work Statement Optometrist Services to provide seamless coverage for the duration of the contract per the Performance Work Statement (PWS) at the Woodrow Wilson Keeble Memorial Health Care Center, Indian Health Service - Sisseton Service Unit, 100 Lake Traverse Drive, Sisseton, SD 57262. F. The period of performance will be: One (1) year from date of award . G. FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Deviation NOV 2025). (a) Submission of offers . Submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the exact time specified in this solicitation. As a minimum, offers shall include— (1) The solicitation number; 75H70626Q00214, Closing Date: October 30, 2026, at 1:00 pm CST (2) The name, address, telephone number of the Offeror; (3) The Offeror’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and, if applicable, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) indicator; (4) Information necessary to evaluate the factors contained in the provision at 52.212-2 or as described in the solicitation; (5) Responses to provisions that require Offeror completion of information, representations, and certifications (other than those collected via the System for Award Management (SAM)); and (6) A statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation and any solicitation amendments. (b) Period for acceptance of offers . The Offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 60 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation. (c) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers . (1) Offerors are responsible for submitting offers and any modifications or revisions to the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. (2) Any offer, modification, or revision received after the time specified for receipt of offers is “late” and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made and the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition. However, a late modification of an otherwise successful offer that makes its terms more favorable to the Government will be considered at any time it is received and may be accepted. (3) If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that offers cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of offers by the exact time specified in the solicitation, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the solicitation or other notice of an extension of the closing date, the time specified for receipt of offers will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume. (4) Offerors may withdraw their offers by written notice to the Government received at any time before award. (d) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids) . The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with Offerors. Therefore, the Offeror’s initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions, if necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest, accept other than the lowest offer, and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. (e) Debriefings . If a postaward debriefing is given to requesting Offerors, the Government will disclose the following information, if applicable: (1) The agency’s evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the debriefed Offeror’s offer. (2) The overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful Offeror and the debriefed Offeror and past performance information on the debriefed Offeror. (3) The overall ranking of all Offerors when any ranking was developed by the agency during source selection. (4) A summary of the rationale for award. (5) For acquisitions of commercial products, the make and model of the product to be delivered by the successful Offeror. (6) Reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the debriefed Offeror as to whether the agency followed source-selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities. In addition, Contractors shall provide the following: Name and phone number of three (3) professional references Shall meet the qualifications in the PWS and provide copies of requested documents. Copy of malpractice insurance coverage. Copy of a degree from a qualified medical science program. Maintain continuing education/certification. Copy of current Basic Life Support (BLS). Current immunization record. DO NOT INCLUDE PERSONAL IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII) on any documents that are being submitted. Attachments: Performance Work Statement (PWS) Provisions and Clauses incorporated by reference and full text Mandatory Seasonal Influenza H. Basis of Award is Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA). This award selection will be conducted using Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procedures. FAR 52.217-8 extension pricing will be evaluated for protest protection. To be eligible for award, a proposal must meet all technical requirements, conform to all required terms and conditions, and include all information required. All non-price evaluation factors must be rated as "ACCEPTABLE" in order to be eligible for award. An "UNACCEPTABLE" rating in any factor will result in the proposal being rated "UNACCEPTABLE" unless corrected through discussions. A proposal rating of "UNACCEPTABLE" makes a proposal ineligible for award. Since the LPTA methodology prohibits trade-offs, all evaluation factors and sub-factors are equally important. Proposals are evaluated for acceptability but not ranked using the non-price factors. A price evaluation will be performed for all offerors and proposals will be ranked from lowest to highest price based on the Total Proposed Price (TPP) provided by the offeror on the price schedule sheet. Next, an evaluation of each factor and, subsequently, the overall proposal will be performed beginning with the lowest priced proposal. Award will be made to the lowest evaluated priced proposal meeting the acceptability standards for the non-price factors. The Government intends to award a contract without conducting discussions; therefore, the initial proposal shall conform to the solicitation requirements and should contain the best offer from a technical and price perspective. Technical Factor 1 – Past Performance (a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements: Offerors do not need to provide any information under this factor as the US Government will base the evaluation on all INTERIM and FINAL Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPARs) that are recent and relevant. The CPARs will be retrieved from official US Government sources, including, but not limited to, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System and the Past Performance Information Retrieval System. (b) Basis of Evaluation: Recency: For the purposes of this solicitation, a past performance record is recent if the CPAR final date of assessment listed in the “Period of Performance Being Assessed” block is within the 24-month period preceding the proposal due date. Relevancy: For the purposes of this solicitation, a past performance record is relevant if the CPAR business sector is listed as “Services”. To receive an "acceptable" rating for this factor, an Offer's recent and relevant CPARs must NOT include one or more INTERIM and/or FINAL CPARs with a rating of "UNSATISFACTORY" in one or more categories OR one or more INTERIM and/or FINAL CPARs with a rating of "MARGINAL" in two or more categories. If an Offeror has one or more CPARs with a rating of "UNSATISFACTORY" in one or more categories OR one or more CPARs with a rating of "MARGINAL" in two or more categories, the Offeror's past performance will be evaluated as "UNACCEPTABLE". In the case of an Offeror without a record of recent and relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available or so sparse that no meaningful past performance rating can be reasonably assigned, the Offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. Therefore, the Offeror shall be determined to have unknown past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, “unknown” shall be considered “acceptable.” An “UNACCEPTABLE” rating for a single factor will result in the Offeror’s entire proposal being rated “UNACCEPTABLE”. Technical Factor 2 – Problem and Approach (a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements: Proposals, which merely offer a statement to conduct/provide services in accordance with the requirements in the Governments PWS, will not be eligible for award. The offeror must submit an explanation that meet the requirements identified under Technical Requirements. (b) Basis of Evaluation: This factor will be evaluated as “ACCEPTABLE” if explanation meets the requirements identified under Technical Requirements. If an explanation of one or more Requirements is not provided, and/or do not comply with the requirements, this factor will receive an “UNACCEPTABLE” rating. Technical Factor 3 – Management (a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements: Proposals, which merely offer a statement to conduct/provide services in accordance with the requirements in the Governments PWS, will not be eligible for award. The offeror must submit an explanation that identifies the offeror’s management capabilities and responsibilities to meet the following: Work Schedule, Description of Services, Contract Provider(s) Responsibility and Requirements. (b) Basis of Evaluation: This factor will be evaluated as “ACCEPTABLE” if the explanation meets the requirement for management capabilities and responsibilities to meet the following: Tour of Duty/Schedule, Description of Services, Contractor Responsibility and Personnel Requirements, which comply with the requirements outlined above, are submitted. If an explanation of one or more of the following: Tour of Duty/Schedule, Description of Services, Contractor Responsibility and Personnel Requirements and/or do not comply with the requirements, this factor will receive an “UNACCEPTABLE” rating. IHS reserves the right to make multiple awards, which is most advantages to the Government. This is a competitive solicitation and the offer your firm submits will be used by IHS to determine, which of the quantities listed within are, “estimate only” and it is not the intent of IHS to be obligated to order the “quantities.” Factor 4 – Price (a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements: Completed Price Schedule Sheet (b) Basis of Evaluation: The Government will evaluate price based on the total proposed price calculated as the sum of bid item 0001 Base Period, item 0002 Option Period 1, item 0003 Option Period 2, item 0004 Option Period 3 and item 0005 Option Period 4, item 0006 Option Period 5, item 0007 Option Period 6, item 0008 Option Period 7, item 009 Option Period 8 and item 010 Option Period 9 that includes Contract cost, Subcontractor cost, Overhead and Profit. Analysis will be performed by one or more of the following techniques to ensure a fair and reasonable price: (i) Comparison of proposed prices received in response to the RFQ. (ii) Comparison of proposed prices with the IGCE. (iii) Comparison of proposed prices with available historical information. Note: A price that is found to be either unreasonable high or unrealistically low in relation to the proposed work may be indicative of an inherent lack of understanding of the solicitation requirements and may result in the overall proposal being considered unacceptable. INTENT TO AWARD WITHOUT DISCUSSIONS The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with Offerors. Therefore, the Offeror's initial proposal should contain the Offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. In the event discussions are held, a competitive range determination will be made. If the Contracting Officer determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Contracting Officer may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals. However, The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. J. FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (DEVIATION NOV 2025). Applied to this acquisition and is incorporated by reference. K. Additional FAR & Health & Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) clauses that are applicable are attached. L. Offers will only be accepted electronically, submit via email to the following: Attn: Andrea Whipple, Purchasing Agent Email: andrea.whipple@ihs.gov Questions in regards to this solicitation shall be submitted in writing by email no later than Friday, October 16th, 2026, 1:00pm CST. SECURITY CLEARANCE A security pre-clearance must be performed for any employees referred to IHS through this contract. Fingerprints must be completed and adjudicated prior to services being performed under this contract. No contract award shall be made to any vendor or provider listed on the OIG Exclusion List http://exclusions.oig.hhs.gov throughout the duration of the contract. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to notify the acquisition official if there is a change in provider. Performance of this contract will require routine access by employees of the Contractor or its subcontractors to facilities or systems controlled by the Indian Health Service (I.H.S.). Before starting work requiring routine access to I.H.S. facilities or systems each person must complete a FBI National Criminal History Check (Fingerprint Check) adjudicated by an I.H.S. employee using the Office of Personnel Management Personnel Investigations Processing System. Contractors shall allow five business days for I.H.S. processing of fingerprints taken electronically at an I.H.S. site and thirty business days for non-electronic processing of fingerprints using FBI Form FD-258. A list of I.H.S. sites with electronic fingerprint capability is available from the Contracting Officer. In addition, no Contractor or subcontractor employee shall be permitted to perform work under this contract if listed on the HHS Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), http://exclusions.oig.hhs.gov. As soon as practicable prior to the start of work, the performance of the work the Contractor shall provide to the Contracting Officer the names of all individuals to be used in performance of work for screening against the LEIE. During the performance, the Contractor shall provide the Contracting Officer the names of any additional or substitute employees for screening before they begin work. The Contractor is responsible for conducting security preclearance investigations in sufficient depth to ensure that each Contractor or subcontractor employee referred to I.H.S. is not on the LEIE and can obtain a favorable fingerprint clearance. Each security preclearance shall be conducted sufficiently in advance of the start of performance to avoid delays caused by denial of access. If this is a Time and Materials, Labor-Hour or Cost Reimbursement contract, the contractor shall not charge for or be reimbursed for labor hours or other costs incurred for employees who are unable to perform due to denial or access or the excess time required to resolve and clear unfavorable security clearance findings. If this is a Fixed Price contract, denial of access due to security clearance findings shall not be a basis for excusable delay or an increase to the contract amount. Government will pay for the cost to process the contractors suitability clearances. However, multiple investigations for the same position may, at the Contracting Officers discretion, lead to reduction(s) in the contract price of no more than the cost of the extra investigation(s). Employees that DO NOT have access to LMS, contractors , volunteers, or IHS employees with IPA’s or MOA’s to tribal organizations please, click here IHS Sexual Abuse Prevention website. When the contractors have completed and passed the training, please have them send a copy of the last page of the training with Name, Date, and Time to their Supervisor, COR, and Kimmen LeBeau, e-mail: Kimmen.LeBeau@ihs.gov Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) The Indian Health Service (IHS) is in the process of implementing an electronic invoicing system In compliance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) M-15-19 memorandum “Improving Government Efficiency and Saving Taxpayer Dollars Through Electronic Invoicing” directing Federal agencies to adopt electronic invoicing as the primary means to disburse payment to vendors. Invoices submitted under any award resulting from this solicitation will be required to utilize the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) in accordance with HHSAR 352.232- 71, Electronic Submission and Processing of Payment Requests. IPP is a secure, web-based electronic invoicing system provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRSTL). Respondents to this solicitation are encouraged to register an account with IPP if they have not already done so. If your organization is already registered to use IPP, you will not be required to re-register- however, we encourage you make sure your organization and designated IPP user accounts are valid and up to date. Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) The Indian Health Service (IHS) is in the process of implementing an electronic invoicing system In compliance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) M-15-19 memorandum “Improving Government Efficiency and Saving Taxpayer Dollars Through Electronic Invoicing” directing Federal agencies to adopt electronic invoicing as the primary means to disburse payment to vendors. Invoices submitted under any award resulting from this solicitation will be required to utilize the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) in accordance with HHSAR 352.232-71, Electronic Submission and Processing of Payment Requests. IPP is a secure, web-based electronic invoicing system provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRSTL). Respondents to this solicitation are encouraged to register an account with IPP if they have not already done so. If your organization is already registered to use IPP, you will not be required to re-register- however, we encourage you make sure your organization and designated IPP user accounts are valid and up to date. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov If you require assistance registering or IPP account access, please contact the IPP Helpdesk at (866) 973-3131 (M-F 8AM to 6PM ET), or IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov “Should the contractor feel that use of the IPP would be unduly burdensome, their response to this solicitation should include an explanation of this position for a determination by the contracting officer”.
