Sources Sought
Stat Clinical Lab Testing and Autopsies
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryThis is a sources sought notice, a market research request and not a solicitation, so no offers or prices are asked for. The Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contracting Office 6) wants capability statements from businesses that can provide referral laboratory testing, specimen transport and autopsy services for the Central Virginia VA Health Care System, including Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. The response due date is October 27, 2026 (passed), 1:00 PM ET, by email. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of Veterans Affairs who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
This is a sources sought notice, a market research request and not a solicitation, so no offers or prices are asked for. The Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contracting Office 6) wants capability statements from businesses that can provide referral laboratory testing, specimen transport and autopsy services for the Central Virginia VA Health Care System, including Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. The response due date is October 27, 2026 (passed), 1:00 PM ET, by email.
Who can bid (5)
- The VA is seeking input from service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) and other small businesses, including 8(a), HUBZone, women-owned (WOSB) and economically disadvantaged women-owned (EDWOSB) firms. The final set-aside is not decided.
- Any claimed veteran-owned status must be verified in the Small Business Administration veteran-certification system.
- A current SAM.gov registration.
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- Every laboratory doing the work, including branches, affiliates and subcontracted labs, must hold all required federal and state licenses, certifications, accreditations and inspections. Examples named: CLIA certification, College of American Pathologists (CAP), COLA or Joint Commission accreditation, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses where they apply.
- Comply with privacy and security rules for protected health information, including HIPAA.
How to submit: Email to Gordon Burns, Network Contracting Office 6 (gordon.burns@va.gov), with the subject line '36C24627Q0079 Autopsies and Lab Testing', due October 27, 2026, 1:00 PM ET. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (5)
From the version posted Oct 19, 2026.
- Worth checking: One provider must cover both lab testing and autopsies. The VA expects one contractor able to support clinical and anatomic pathology plus autopsies, so a lab-only firm would need a partner.
- Worth checking: Every location and subcontractor must be accredited. You must report the accreditation status of each place that may do testing or autopsies, including partner and third-party labs.
- Worth checking: Subcontracting limit. Respondents must explain how they would stay within the limit on subcontracting, which can matter if reference tests are sent to other labs.
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- Minor: Notice number differs from the email subject line. SAM.gov lists 36C24627Q0076, but the notice tells you to use 36C24627Q0079 in the email subject line. Ask the contracting officer which to use.
- Minor: Market research only. A response does not commit the VA to issue a solicitation, and it will not reimburse the cost of responding.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.
- 36C24627Q0076_1.docx (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Run referral laboratory tests for both clinical pathology and anatomic pathology (tissue and body exam) specimens, including routine, urgent and STAT (rush) testing.
- Report results within established turnaround times and give electronic access to test information and patient results.
- Provide secure transport of specimens from VA-designated collection locations to the testing laboratory, plus the supplies for collecting and shipping specimens.
- Give advice on test selection, specimen collection, handling and preservation, transport, and how to interpret results.
- Provide hospital or medical autopsy services, including gross and microscopic examination and final reports, and coordinate autopsy transport if the VA asks.
- Place of performance
- Not given in the SAM.gov fields. The service area is Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center and associated Central Virginia VA Health Care System locations to be named in any later solicitation.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Offers due
- October 27, 2026, 1:00 PM ET
- How to submit
- Email to Gordon Burns, Network Contracting Office 6 (gordon.burns@va.gov), with the subject line '36C24627Q0079 Autopsies and Lab Testing'
- Page limits
- Capability statement: 5 pages, not counting the cover page and copies of licenses, certifications or accreditations
What to include when you submit
- Send a capability statement with your legal name and address, Unique Entity Identifier, and a contact name, phone number and email.
- State your business size and status under NAICS code 621511: SDVOSB, VOSB, 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, EDWOSB or other small business.
- Confirm your current SAM.gov registration, and confirm that any veteran-owned status is verified in the Small Business Administration veteran-certification system.
- Describe in detail how you would meet the laboratory testing, transport, STAT testing and autopsy needs.
- Give the years you have provided comparable lab or autopsy services, and your experience with federal agencies, VA facilities, hospitals or other healthcare systems.
- List your current licenses, certifications and accreditations, and every location where testing or autopsies would be done.
- Describe your courier and specimen transport network and your electronic ordering and result-reporting.
- Name any subcontractors, affiliates, branches or third-party reference labs and what each would do. Show which services you do yourself and which others do.
- Describe how you would meet the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.219-14 limit on how much work may go to subcontractors, if it applies.
- List any services you cannot provide, and any suggestions on contract structure, performance period, test-list organization or pricing method.
Not in the notice text
- The notice refers to the Government's attached test list, but no test list was in the text provided; check SAM.gov for it.
- Section III of the notice lists autopsy capabilities after 'including:' but the list is blank in both the notice and the attachment.
- Contract type, performance period, expected volumes, turnaround times and pricing method are not stated.
- The place of performance and the exact VA collection locations are not stated; any later solicitation will set them.
- SAM.gov shows no set-aside and no response deadline. Whether a later buy will be set aside for veteran-owned or other small businesses is not stated.
- No dollar estimate is given. The $45.5 million figure in the notice is the NAICS size standard, not the contract value.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 19, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- 246-Network Contracting Office 6 (36C246), Hampton, VA
- Product/service code
- Q501 · Medical – Anesthesiology
- Business type
- Medical & healthcare (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 621511)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice
Full notice text from SAM.gov
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