The Department of Energy now expects the full Occupational Medical Contract solicitation for the Hanford Site in Washington state to hit the streets by late next month, according to a procurement notice last week.
In a notice dated Feb. 2, the DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati said to expect the request for proposals (RFP) out in 30-to-45 days, the latter of which is roughly March 19. Parts of the RFP were made public in December.
The timeline, officially considered a synopsis under federal procurement rules, is not much later than the previously-published notices indicating the RFP could be out as early as this month.
Incumbent HPM Corp. holds a $152 million contract, set to expire by the end of the year, to provide onsite occupational medical employee health services around the clock for Hanford’s roughly 10,000 federal and contract workers.
Last week DOE recently posted a list of subcontractors and a video of Hanford area medical facilities on the procurement page for the solicitation.
Some new documents were also added to DOE’s procurement page for the contract. The papers include a redacted public affairs guidance document dated Jan. 25 that lists steps the Hanford office of communications should take before releasing RFP-related information. HPM should provide the communications office a draft copy of any materials going out to the public or Congress 10 days in advance. The communications staff is supposed to run an internal review and then inform HPM of any changes three days before the information goes out, according to the document.
The oft-stated DOE goal of transparency evidently takes time.
The DOE started its market research on the new contract in July 2022. That was four months after incumbent HPM Corp. was assessed $3 million in fines and restitution in federal court for submitting false information to the Small Business Administration to secure loans related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
