Solicitation
554 | Short Term Psychiatric Transitional Housing Long-Term Contract | Base+4
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryVeterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 wants a residential facility within 60 miles of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, to house Veterans short-term after psychiatric discharge. It is open to all businesses (no set-aside) and paid per bed day of care, for a base year from December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2027 plus four option years. SAM.gov lists the response due date as October 29, 2029, but the solicitation says October 29, 2026. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 wants a residential facility within 60 miles of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, to house Veterans short-term after psychiatric discharge. It is open to all businesses (no set-aside) and paid per bed day of care, for a base year from December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2027 plus four option years. SAM.gov lists the response due date as October 29, 2029, but the solicitation says October 29, 2026.
Who can bid (7)
- A facility located within a 60-mile radius of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, 1700 N. Wheeling Street, Aurora, CO 80045.
- A current occupancy permit and a Mental Health Transitional Living (MHTL) license (Level I or II) from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration or Colorado Department of Human Services, or a similar state oversight designation that can provide short-term transitional housing and mental health support.
- Professional liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in aggregate; certificates are due with the offer and again before services start.
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- Active System for Award Management (SAM) registration before award, kept through final payment.
- Staff who give medicine must be certified Qualified Medication Administration Persons (QMAP), or registered nurses.
- Staff present in the facility around the clock (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), including an administrative staff member or equivalent available for emergencies.
- A full-time cook who follows the Commission on Dietetic Registration guidelines.
How to submit: Email to haylee.schrick-ange@va.gov with the subject line "Quote: Solicitation 36C25926Q0497"; faxed and telegraphic offers are not accepted, due October 29, 2029, 2:00 PM Mountain per SAM.gov; the solicitation documents say October 29, 2026, 2:00 PM (MDT on the SF 1449, MST in the instructions). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (9)
From the version posted Oct 15, 2026.
- Serious: Facility must be within 60 miles and licensed. You need your own licensed facility with an occupancy permit near Aurora, Colorado; a business without a qualifying building cannot perform.
- Worth checking: Medical liability insurance must be shown with the offer. The offer needs insurance certificates and proof of indemnification and medical liability insurance, at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in aggregate.
- Worth checking: Missing documents can remove your quote. Three volumes, a redacted copy and many signed forms are required. Offers missing requested items are non-compliant and may be removed from evaluation.
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- Worth checking: Referral response times differ inside the PWS. One part gives two hours to acknowledge a request and one business day to decide; another gives one business day to acknowledge the admission packet. Ask which governs.
- Minor: Odd key personnel certification requested. The instructions ask for an electroencephalographic technologist board certification for key personnel, which does not match this housing service. Ask the contracting specialist whether it applies.
- Minor: Questions were due Oct 18, 2026. Check the amendments for the agency's answers.
- Minor: Paid only for authorized days. VA pays for care only within the period each referral authorizes, unless VA extends it in writing. Each period lists 90.00 DY, so volume may be limited.
- Minor: Data breach damages of $37.50 per person. If VA sensitive personal information is breached through your fault, you owe liquidated damages (preset damages) per affected person for notification and credit monitoring.
- Minor: Place of performance wording differs. Section B says services are furnished at the VA medical center in Aurora, while the PWS requires the contractor's own facility within 60 miles. Ask which governs.
Read from the notice and 5 attachments. Show which files.
- 36C25926Q0497 - final.pdf (read)
- D.1 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan QASP.pdf (read)
- D.2 Organizational Conflict.pdf (read)
- D.3 Immigration Certification.pdf (read)
- D.4 Contractor's Rules of Behavior.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Provide short-term transitional residential care with room and board for Veterans leaving VA inpatient mental health or residential treatment, paid per bed day of care (noon to 11:59 AM the next day)
- Pick up each discharged Veteran from the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in a contractor vehicle
- Keep staff in the facility 24 hours a day, with a locked medication room; only Colorado Qualified Medication Administration Persons (QMAP) or registered nurses give medicine
- Answer VA referrals: acknowledge the admission packet, decide on the Veteran, and complete transport and admission within 3 business days of receiving the packet
- Coordinate care by phone with the VA inpatient mental health contact, write service plans and weekly progress notes, and run daily groups and activities
- Serve at least three meals a day, with a full-time cook, and keep the facility clean, accessible and compliant with fire safety rules and drills
- Notify VA right away of critical incidents, unauthorized absences and emergencies, and keep an individual record for each Veteran
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price per unit, whatever the work costs), priced per bed day of care. Quotes are evaluated under simplified acquisition procedures (streamlined buying rules).
- Period of performance
- Base year December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2027, plus four option years, the last ending November 30, 2031 (about 5 years in all). Each period is 90.00 DY (days) of care.
- Place of performance
- Aurora, CO. Section B names Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, 1700 N Wheeling St, Aurora, CO 80045; the performance work statement (PWS) requires the contractor's own facility within 60 miles of it.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best value by side-by-side (pairwise) comparison of quotes; the Contracting Officer picks the quote most beneficial to the Government, which may not be the lowest price. Offers missing requested items may be removed.
- Offers due
- October 29, 2029, 2:00 PM Mountain per SAM.gov; the solicitation documents say October 29, 2026, 2:00 PM (MDT on the SF 1449, MST in the instructions)
- How to submit
- Email to haylee.schrick-ange@va.gov with the subject line "Quote: Solicitation 36C25926Q0497"; faxed and telegraphic offers are not accepted
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Capabilities: (A) contract implementation and qualifications, (B) regulatory practices including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance and company policies, (C) quality assurance
- Past Performance
- Price
What to include when you submit
- Send three separate volumes: Volume 1 Technical Capability (plus one redacted copy on plain white paper), Volume 2 Past Performance, Volume 3 Price.
- Also send a redacted proposal with identifying information removed, such as logo, email address and phone numbers.
- Sign and return Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449): the form you sign and return as your offer, and complete the price schedule for all line items.
- Include copies of all required insurance certificates and proof of indemnification and medical liability insurance.
- Return the signed items from Section D: the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), Contractor Rules of Behavior, Immigration and Nationality Act certification, and an organizational conflicts of interest statement for all involved parties.
- List key personnel and attach resumes, Advanced Cardiac Life Support or Basic Life Support (ACLS/BLS) certifications, other applicable certifications, and a certification that the staff list was compared to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) list.
- Technical volume: a plan to take eligible VA patients on discharge, key personnel qualifications and licenses, a process for clinical competency review, the facility occupancy permit or license and inspection reports.
- Technical volume: standard operating procedures for HIPAA and OSHA compliance, additional training, internal monitoring, clinical outcome measures, and samples of quality assurance reports.
- Past performance volume: a minimum of three (3) references for the same or similar service of the same or closely equivalent magnitude, each with facility name, point of contact, phone, email, type of contract, and a description of services and length of time.
- Price volume: a price per individual bed day of care, an estimated yearly cost for the base year and each option year, and the total estimated cost for the whole period.
- Hold prices firm for 90 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, and acknowledge any amendments.
After award, you must have
- Training certificates and signed Rules of Behavior for each employee are due within 1 week of the start of the contract and yearly after that.
Not in the notice text
- Part of the main solicitation file (28,662 characters in the middle, standard contract clauses) was not read; the pricing, work statement and evaluation sections were read.
- Whether 90.00 DY per period is the total expected volume or only a minimum is not explained.
- Which response due date is correct (October 29, 2029 on SAM.gov, October 29, 2026 in the solicitation) is not explained.
- The Government's estimate is not given; the $19 Million on the SF 1449 is a size standard, not a contract value.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to haylee.schrick-ange@va.gov with the subject line "Quote: Solicitation 36C25926Q0497"; faxed and telegraphic offers are not accepted. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 15, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Network Contract Office 19 (36C259), Greenwood Village, CO
- Product/service code
- Q519 · Behavioral and Mental Health
- Business type
- Medical & healthcare (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 623220)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 15, 2026 · Solicitation (this version)SAM.gov date Oct 29, 2029 (changed)
- Oct 15, 2026 · PresolicitationDate Oct 29, 2026
- 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
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The contractor shall provide short-term, transitional, residential care. Eligible programs may be, but are not required, to be Mental Health Transitional Living (MHTL) Homes (Level I or Level II).
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