HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

Trade Agreement: Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: None
Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Nature of Requirements: 
ENGAGEMENT PROCESS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS 



SUBJECT - Information on the follow-up engagement activities
relating to the Department of National Defense (DND) requirement
for Health Care Providers (HCPs)

POTENTIAL REQUIREMENT - DND has a requirement for HCPs needed to
supplement military members and civilian personnel in delivering
health care services to the Canadian Forces (CF) at various
locations across Canada.

DND's objective is to ensure that there are procurement
instruments in place that can be utilized on an "as and when
requested basis" to ensure that health care providers are
available to provide various health care services to the CF
members.  	

It is intended that the resulting contracting mechanism(s) will
be used by DND under any of the following circumstances:
Difficulties in recruiting and retaining military personnel for
health services professions;
Difficulties in recruiting public servants for health service
professions or when the Public Service (PS) staffing process has
not been successful;
As an interim solution while awaiting a permanent PS staffing
process to be completed;
Replacements are required for maternity or paternity leave,
operational deployment or training of military personnel when
other solutions such as reserve staffing are not successful; 
Other health care services or health services support not
readily available within the department are required; and
Short term or Urgent HCPs requirements arise.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) PROCESS - An RFI document was
posted on Buyandsell.gc.ca between October 10, 2013 and November
6, 2013 to inform potential Bidders of a DND's requirement for
HCPs and to obtain Industry input and feedback regarding the
draft requirement definition and constraints pertaining to this
requirement.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY - In addition to the RFI process, the
engagement process will also include one-on-one "Industry
Meetings" with the industry participants. Canada may in its
discretion, set up subsequent consultation sessions such as
working groups, additional individual Industry meetings and
other engagement processes, on as required basis, to follow up
with additional questions, or for clarification of any aspect of
their input. 

Industry members interested in participating in the rest of the
industry engagement process, including one-on-one "Industry
Meetings", any subsequent engagement sessions, and a review of
the final draft Bid Solicitation, must sign and agree to the
Industry Engagement Rules of Engagement and Dispute Resolution
Process.

One-on-One Industry Meetings:
Following the RFI, Canada will meet with Industry participants
individually to listen to their concerns, recommendations and
solutions. Canada will analyze and summarize industry input for
further use during the Bid solicitation development phase or to
identify topics that still need to be discussed at other
consultation sessions, if required. 

Canada anticipates holding the one on one "Industry Meetings"
with the Industry from November 25, 2013 to December 4, 2013.
These sessions will be held in the National Capital Region (NCR)
and specific details about the location(s), and time(s) of the
sessions will be provided directly to the registered industry
participants prior to the one-on-one Industry Meeting.

Working Groups / Individual meetings:
Following the One-On-One meetings, Industry Participants may be
invited to further individual meeting and/or Working Group
Meetings comprised of representatives from Industry, DND and
PWGSC to discuss specific issues, potential solutions,
recommendations etc. Canada will analyze and summarize industry
input for further use during the Bid Solicitation development
phase or to identify topics that still need to be discussed at
other consultation sessions, if required.

Following the One-on-One Industry Meetings and any subsequent
engagement sessions, if required, Canada will document all
industry issues, positions and actions. Industry input will be
used for the development of the Bid Solicitation.  Prior to the
official Bid Solicitation being published on
https://buyandsell.gc.ca/, a draft Bid Solicitation will be made
available for final review only to those participants who have
signed and complied with the Rules of Engagement.   
Third Party Consultation:
Third parties such as Industry Associations might be also
consulted on an as and when required basis to discuss industry
issues and recommendations on industry standard practices.

REGISTRATION - Participants that wish to attend the One-on-one
Meeting are to register by notifying the PWGSC Contracting
Authority, identified herein, by email
(hana.benabdallah@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca) by November 20, 2013. 
Participants must identify themselves by their legal name,
corporate address, the names of representatives attending by
their respective title as well as their office address,
telephone number(s) and e-mail address.  

Please note that:
1.	Due to space limitations, interested participants are asked
to limit the number of representatives to a maximum of 4
persons.  

2.	All attendees are encouraged to register and will be required
to sign-in upon arrival to the venue.

3.	Interested participants are encouraged to provide written
comments and recommendations on the draft requirement
definition, answer the list of Questions to Industry annexed to
the RFI document and, if desired, suggest additional topics to
the Contracting Authority they may wish to discuss at the
one-on-one meeting.

4.	Attendees are responsible for their own transportation,
accommodation, meals, parking and all other expenses.

5.	Participation is not a mandatory requirement. Not attending
in the individual meetings and other engagement sessions will
not preclude an interested Service Provider from submitting a
bid.

6.	Media cannot participate in the one-on-one meetings.
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.