List of questions for RFP-Supplemental Nursing Services-LPN and RN 2014 1. How many contracted hours of Supplemental Nursing Services were utilized last contract/school year? This is a variable number and unavailable for last year due to the merger of two systems. 2. Who is/are the current vendor(s) providing Supplemental Nursing Services? How many years have been providing services? Are you happy with the services they re providing? Due to the merger of two school districts, the requested information is not available and not relevant to the RFP. 3. How many hours of Supplemental Nursing Services are needed for the 2013-2014 school year? Variable based on specific students needs as outlined in IEP and Section 504 plans. 4. What was the annual spend of nursing agency personnel for 2012-2013 school year? This is a variable expense given the nature of the contract request and needs for coverage of students with specific nurse needs identified in IEP or Section 504 plans. 5. Can you please provide the estimated amount of contract usage (Hours and Spend) for the services listed in this solicitation? Variable. 6. Does this contract include providing nursing personnel to those students who qualify for 1 on 1 care, or is it strictly for clinical nursing in the school setting? Nursing services are determined based on student need and not projected. 7. How many students are receiving one-on-one nursing care, based on an IEP (RN vs LPN care)? Variable based on specific students needs as outlined in IEP and Section 504 plans. 8. Is there evaluation criteria established for this contract award? If so, please provide an objective list, with percentages/points for the services being requested. Yes, please refer to page 20, Section 8.2.1 for information regarding evaluation criteria. 9. What challenges have you faced in the past, related to the successful provision of services listed in this solicitation by the previous/current contractor(s)? One of our most prevailing challenges is the availability of qualified ready staff. 10. Are there any requirements as it relates to MBE/WBE or small businesses for this contract, since it seems to be per diem and emergency nursing needs? We encourage minority participate, but it is not a requirement. 11. Is it the intent to award this contract to one vendor? No. 12. Who will be the person responsible for contacting the agency when a nursing need occurs? Health Services/School Nurse manager. 13. Are nursing services going to be more of the per diem variety, or will there be contracts, such as throughout the entire school year? Per Diem. 14. What has been the current spend on agency personnel for nursing services during the current 2013-2014 school year? Coordinated Health and ESE/one-one-one care, if that is part of this contract? Greater than $300,000. 15. As it appears there is no strict MBE/WBE or small business contract requirement percentages associated with this contract, how does Shelby County Schools prefer proposed vendors to complete the Fair Business Program forms? Will Not Applicable suffice as an adequate response for these forms under the sections requiring Subcontractor Information? With there not being a set annual dollar amount for the contract, we didn t know if it was a requirement to subcontract services under this contract? If respondent is not
subcontracting/partnering with another business, NA is acceptable on the Fair Business Program forms. Subcontracting with other businesses is not a requirement. 16. On page 15 of the RFP, Letter E, it states, A description of the number and qualifications of the Respondent s employees who will participate in the performance of the Services, including the total number of employees at the Respondent s Memphis location, the names and titles of key employees who will be assigned to provide the Services, a description of the role to be filled by each such key employee and a resume of each such key employee;. Do you want a resume of each nurse, or a resume of office personnel who will be handling the contract and providing the customer services to Shelby County Schools? Office Personnel and summary of current skilled nurses available to potentially fulfill supplemental/temporary staffing needs. 17. Who are the current incumbent vendors for these services? There are four current vendors. 18. Who is the current vendor/vendors that has been staffing this contract? There are several already authorized to provide staff; however, many vendors do not have credentialed and available staff ready to work in the school nurse capacity. 19. Do you normally use multiple vendors? Yes. 20. How many hours per week under this contract do the LPNs work typically? Anywhere from 4-12 hours based on specific student needs. 21. How many hours per week do the RNs work, under the current contract as well. Anywhere from 4-12 hours based on specific student needs. 22. If a nurse rides the bus with a 1:1 student, will the nurse meet the student at the bus depot or the student s house? Typically, nurses will begin the first route of the date with the bus driver; however, sometimes the arrangement depends on the assignment. 23. Approximately how many nurses will you need for 1:1 cases? Unknown at this time. 24. Will you need any RN s to cover health rooms? No. 25. How will the school district choose which agency to work with when assignments come in? Skill set and staff availability, reliability. 26. Does SCS have any internal orientation program for nurses to attend? Not formal, however orientation is provided by the District nursing staff to temporary staffers to the assigned client. 27. Why is the contract starting so late in the school year? Student needs vary throughout the year which requires adjustments to be made in school nurse coverage based on IEP and Section 504 needs. 28. How much does it cost to be fingerprinted with SCS? Approximately, $42 dollars, but respondent will need to verify with Security Services for the exact amount. 29. On page 14 3.1 c&d Description of Services C Company s Background, d) Company s Mission Statement and Customer Focus. Question- How is this item different than page 14, Section 3.2 Description of the Respondent, a) A brief description of the history and mission of the Respondent, including the Respondent s background and mission statement. It is the same, but please provide the information as requested even if a repeat of the previous section. There will be multiple reviewers of these proposals. 30. On page 19 6.1.3-Binding each copy of the proposals should be bound or contained in single 1 volume. Proposal should be binded. Preference is that the proposal should fit in a 1 single volume. Do vendors already contracted with Memphis City Public Schools still have to submit for this RFP in order to continue providing services? Yes. 31. What is the anticipated usage for these nursing services? How many were utilized last year? What is the anticipated spend for these services? What was the spend last year? This is a variable number and unavailable for last year due to the merger of two systems.
32. Are resumes required to accompany this RFP response? Yes, for executives and a listing of available staff skills in the area that have immediate availability and any school nurse experience. 33. Is SCS currently using any Staffing vendors for RNs and LPNs? b. If so, what companies? Yes, Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools merged into one system as of July 1, 2013. See question#2. 34. What was SCS s spend on Nursing Services last Academic Year (2012/2013)? See question, #1. 35. What were the current rates for RNs and LPNs? See rates provided in RFP. 36. What is the anticipated spend or budgeted spend on Nursing Services for current (2013/2014) school year and upcoming (2014/2015 school) year? Variable based on need. 37. How many RNs and LPNs does SCS plan on bringing on through awarded vendors? Variable based on need. 38. How many hours were supplied through staffing vendors last academic year (2012/2013) See Question 1. 39. What is the projected usage in the coming year? How many Hours? Variable based on need. 40. Are all schools within SCS going to be serviced? Yes, schools that are a part of Shelby County Schools will be serviced as needed. 41. Are the services being provided on school premises? Yes, and also for transportation based on student specific needs. 42. Will RNs or LPNs be required to accompany students to and from school? Yes, based on student specific needs. 43. Will the RNs and LPNs be providing clinical services in a treatment room? A treatment room is not always available. 44. Who will coordinate daily staffing of RNs and LPNs once contract has been awarded? SCS District Nurses/ Supervisor/ Manager. 45. Will the staffing process be centralized or will companies have to contact each individual school for their needs? Yes. Health Services/School Nursing manager is the point of contact for the district. 46. When will a decision be made to award bid? As soon as feasibly possible. 47. Approximately what percentage of the existing student base, numbering approximately 105,000, need nursing services to and from, and during school hours, on a one-on-one basis, or what percentage is projected in the upcoming year? Less than 1-2% of our student population receive the level of nursing services as noted in this question. 48. How many of the school facilities (over 200) need a nurse on site during some or all of the day? Nursing staff are allocated to schools based on student needs, acuity, and mandates of IEP and Section 504 plans. 49. Are teacher and administrative staffs at these facilities expected to utilize the services of awarded vendor's nurses, for their own needs, and other than in an emergency, such as flu shots, etc? No. 50. How many nurses are school board employees that provide these services daily? Greater than 80+. What percentage of the total need are these employed nurses typically able to provide? Variable based on student needs. What is the percentage of total services needed that are provided by outside vendors on a yearly basis, for the past two years? Variable based on student needs.
51. Are bidders expected to propose different rates than are listed on the rate schedule or are bidders expected to accept those as the rates which will be maximum rates they may bid? Rates are as listed in RFP. Respondents will be required to agree to RFP rates. 52. How will the numbers of nurses bidders indicate they can provide be substantiated? Based on the best case proposal given multiple scenarios for availability of staff to meet the need and level of readiness to fulfill a staff request for the district if engaged for services. 53. How many vendors currently provide supplemental, temporary, or emergency staffing for the Shelby County Schools? What has been the historic billing, in dollars and hours, for each vendor over the past year or two? Four. Historic billing and hours is unavailable for the merged district. 54. Is there any equipment to be provided by staffing vendor, such as ventilators, etc? No. 55. How will the fingerprinting process be carried out; via the school system access, or via the vendor's own ability to access the process through the state police or other agencies? Vendors are responsible for meeting the district requirement for fingerprinting and background screening according to Shelby County Schools district policy. 56. Please describe the minimum drug screen requirements for nurse staffs assigned. Drug screen requirement should meet the minimum hospital standard for nursing drug testing. 57. What is the annual spend for this contract? Variable. 58. Who is the current vendor(s)? Multiple. 59. How long has the incumbent held the contract? 2+ years. 60. How many nurses are needed broken down by LPN? RN? Based on scope of service aligned to specific student need. 61. Is this a single or multiple award? If multiple, how many? Multiple. 62. If we are not subcontracting, do we still need to fill out the Second Tier Purchasing Form? No, you can mark N/A for Not Applicable. 63. Why does the contract start in March? To meet specific needs of the merged district and to fulfill student coverage needs. 64. When will the contract be awarded? As soon as possible. 65. Does the awarded agency require a Medicaid billing number or will Shelby bill Medicaid direct? No. 66. Can we make a presentation regarding our academic services model? Yes, if selected by the evaluation committee to provide an oral presentation. 67. Page 11, section E - RNs & LPNs must be willing to travel from school to school with no mileage reimbursement. If a nurse is assigned to more than 1 facility during the course of a day can we bill for the time it takes to get from point A to point B? Bill for total hours worked only for the work day (7 hr day). The RFP rate is a turnkey rate which includes all fees. 68. Page 12, section L - states RNs & LPNs must have a permanent TN License. Memphis/ Shelby County boarders both the AR and the MS s state lines. Since TN, AR and MS are all compact states, are nurses from AR and MS eligible to provided nursing services under this contract? Current valid License Multi-State license. 69. Pricing Schedule - *No of Nurses - are you referring to the number of active nurses we have available? Yes.
. 70. It is defined that providers would need to have a Shelby County business license but does not specify any additional licensing. Question- Are there any other licensing requirements such as Home Health Agency, etc.? Respondent must possess appropriate staffing agency credentials and licensure, insurance, etc. to provide services for nurses to our District. Respondent is not required to have a Shelby County business license to do business with the District. 71. Please specific what it means by Time required for delivery days? Please see RFP Scope of Services for time requirements.