Healthcare Study for Appalachian Community Grant Program Projects

Summary and Background

Buckeye Hills Regional Council (BHRC) is a council of governments established in 1968 and serves the counties of Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry, and Washington in rural Appalachian Ohio. Buckeye Hills administers funding from multiple State and Federal sources in the areas of community and economic development, transportation planning, and aging services to address the needs of member communities.

The Appalachian Community Grant Program (ACGP) is a $500 million program, created by House Bill 377, that provides planning and development grants for communities located in Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region. Program funds are provided by Ohio’s designation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and are administered by the Governor’s Office of Appalachia within the Ohio Department of Development. Projects should be designed to bring about transformational change and be a catalyst for future development by providing generational investments in the Appalachian region.

Project Description

In anticipation of Round 2 of ACGP, BHRC has communicated with stakeholders and communities to identify centers of gravity of similar projects and interests. BHRC has worked with partners across the region to determine the best State Procured Planner to work with on their projects and aided communities in applying for and receiving services from these planners. Through conversations with planners, gaps in services have been identified that may prevent communities from submitting competitive applications in round 2 of ACGP. BHRC aims to fill in these gaps by procuring services for healthcare feasibility studies, historical architecture, and legal advisement. Respondents to this request for qualifications will be expected to work with BHRC staff, communities, and State Procured Planners where necessary to ensure communities are able to take full advantage of the Appalachian Community Grant Program.

Scope of Services

To support grant applicants, Respondents should offer professional services divided into four semi-consecutive phases: (1) determining healthcare service demand and the current state of healthcare access, (2) scoping and programming for proposed primary care facilities, (3) establishing financial feasibility, and (4) identifying the key terms of a memorandum of understanding between Coalition members.

At a high level, the proposed phases of work may include but would not be limited to the following:

1. Situational Assessment: Using available data, respondents should develop a fact base for analyzing healthcare needs. Where possible, respondents should leverage existing and prior market analyses to inform this engagement so as not to duplicate recent efforts by the planning team. Analysis should include the current competitive landscape, target patient demographics, market volumes for target patient care needs, current care coverage, and identification of areas of opportunity/patient volumes. Respondents should also consider reimbursement and payer considerations to the extent they influence the programming (or licensure) of proposed primary care centers. Respondents should assess current resources, clinical offerings, and operational capabilities that would benefit proposed primary care centers.

2. Facility Capacity & Design Modeling: This workstream will help determine the directional size and key features of a new primary care facility as well as clinical and operational staffing requirements to support target services. Based upon the conclusions drawn from a study of demand and access, Respondents will work with Coalition representatives to determine the clinical and other programmatic offerings (e.g., healthcare workforce training) that would be offered. Respondents should leverage the patient activity estimates by service to develop physician and outpatient volume estimates that will inform building key program estimates and size.

3. Financial Feasibility: In order to ensure that proposed facilities will offer both appropriate and sustainable services, Respondents should provide a financial feasibility analysis projecting financial performance based on the prior phases of work. Respondents should create a multiyear projection in a three financial statement model (income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows). Respondents should work with Coalition representatives to create a consensus forecast (or “Expected Case”). The financial model should incorporate key assumptions/forecasts for volumes, payer mix/reimbursement, operating expenses (labor, supply, purchased services, etc.), administrative expenses, etc.

4. Memorandum of Understanding: In this final step, Respondents will facilitate a discussion among Coalition members to determine their role in the creation of the primary care center and commitments for its ongoing support. Respondents will assist the Coalition in creating a Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU”), which would describe the intent of the parties to collaborate on proposed primary care centers. The MOU would describe ownership/membership, governance, management (including operational responsibilities and clinical oversight), and future-oriented provisions and protections. Respondent should support and facilitate meetings among Coalition members to identify the key business terms of a mutually agreeable structure. Finally, Respondents will work with the Coalition’s external legal counsel on any preliminary legal issues that should be reflected in the MOU.

Period of Performance

The period of performance for the Appalachian Community Grant Program is congruent with other ARPA-funded programs. All funding within the program must be obligated by October 2024 and completed by October 2026. The respondent(s) selected would be expected to serve as a consultant for communities beginning at the contract award, projected to be September 1, 2023, and continue until October of 2024, at which time all funds will be obligated under the program.  The contractor may still be consulted through October of 2026 to provide interpretation of documents they created during the period of performance.

Requirements to be Responsive to RFQ

The Request for Qualifications shall be prepared in accordance with the rules codified in 2 CFR 200 (Unified Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) and submitted with the following listed sections completed as part of one singular document. The submission must be in a digital format with print capabilities. BHRC may solicit additional information at a later time.

Part 1 – Company and Response Information Summary

The respondent must provide information as follows:

1. Company Name and Address in which to send contract/service agreement (if awarded)

2. Company Description and Overview

3. Website Address

4. Name, Bio, Phone Number, Email Address of Key Representative(s) that will be responsible for carrying out project activities, inclusive of billing for services

5. Comprehensive list of company’s technical assistance expertise area(s) relative to the scope of work

Part 2 – Consultant Qualifications and Experience (50%)

1. Provide a description of the qualifications and experience of key personnel as it pertains to the scope of work for which respondents are submitting. Please specifically include details on work completed within the Appalachian region of Ohio.

2. Provide descriptions of previous projects that the Respondent has undertaken that are similar to this Project. Please include references as detailed in Part 3 of this RFQ

3. Sample client listing of entities receiving similar assistance. Please include dates for provision of service

4. Web links to related projects are encouraged

Part 3 – References (40%)

Provide a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 references for clients receiving similar services. References of projects should ideally be similar to those that are in development in the BHRC region. If such references are not available, list references that match as closely as possible.

Part 4 – Cost (10%)

BHRC anticipates entering into an agreement for services with the successful respondent(s). The successful respondent(s) should expect to provide invoices to BHRC on an as-needed basis or at least quarterly for the duration of the project.

Respondents should address the following in response to this RFQ:

1. Total cost of services

2. Retainer fee cost

3. Detailed breakdown of activities/tasks to be completed and cost associated with each

4. Methodology for tracking and billing on an as-needed basis

Timeline and Deliverables

Interested respondents should respond by email to Sam Miller, Development Director, smiller@buckeyehills.org. The subject line should read ‘BHRC ACGP Technical Assistance RFQ-HEALTHCARE’.

RFQ Issued: August 14, 2023

Responses DUE: August 28, 2023

Notification of Award: August 31, 2023

Responses received after the time and date specified are not eligible for consideration.  ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SIGNED.

Failure to provide this information may result in rejection of the response.

BHRC reserves the right to reject any response not prepared and submitted according to the provisions herein outlined and may reject any or all responses.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The respondent is cautioned against last-minute attempts to meet the due date and time, and BHRC will not be responsible for network outages and other related internet malfunctions on the part of the respondent in submitting their proposal.

Evaluation and Selection

All qualified responses submitted in accordance with the terms of the RFQ will be evaluated to determine the most responsive entity. A uniform selection process will be used to evaluate all proposals.

Staff from BHRC will review and evaluate all responses received in response to this Request for Qualifications. Proposals will be evaluated and ranked based on the selection criteria outlined below. After the conclusion of the evaluation process, the firms, groups, or persons will be ranked in priority order with the highest-ranking firm, group, or person being selected to negotiate a contract and scope of services with BHRC. If a contract satisfactory to both parties cannot be negotiated, BHRC will then enter negotiations with the next highest ranked firm, group, or person and so on until an agreement is reached.

In the event BHRC elect to negotiate a contract with a selected firm, group, or person, BHRC reserves the right to negotiate such terms and conditions of the contract, including, but not limited to scope, role, price, and staffing which may be in the best interests of BHRC.

Proposal evaluation will be based upon the following criteria:

• Scope of services
• Experience and ability to successfully complete the scope of services
• Experience within working in Appalachian Ohio
• Demonstrated experience from the perspective of references