West
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted reviews of each of the three Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Regional Procurement Offices (RPOs) to assess the use of sole source procedures when awarding service contracts valued at more than $700,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2017…
The OIG reviewed 15 sole-source contracts awarded by RPO West with a total value of about $19 million to determine whether they were properly justified and approved, and found that this was not done for five contracts worth about $6 million. This occurred because RPO West contracting officers did not follow the required approval process and misunderstood who the proper approval authority was….
The OIG recommended the executive director of VHA procurement ensure personnel’s awareness of approval procedures and the required written justification for sole-source contracts, establish procedures to help make certain the appropriate authority approves all sole-source contracts, and review the actions of contracting personnel involved in the cited contracts to determine whether administrative actions are warranted… Access the full report here.
East
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted reviews of each of the three Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Regional Procurement Offices (RPOs) to assess the use of sole-source procedures when awarding service contracts valued at more than $700,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2017…
The OIG reviewed 20 sole-source contracts awarded by RPO East totaling $41.4 million. The OIG found RPO East contracting officers did not obtain required approval before awarding 10 contracts worth about $14.2 million. This occurred because officials did not follow the proper approval process, did not receive the correct guidance, and misinterpreted regulations. As a result, the costs of those 10 contracts cannot be fully justified…
The OIG recommended the executive director of VHA procurement ensure awareness of approval procedures for sole-source contracts and make certain all justifications are approved by the appropriate authority… Access the full report here.
Source: Sole-Source Service Contracting at Regional Procurement Office East Needs Improvement; Sole-Source Service Contracting at Regional Procurement Office West Need Improvement – September 17, 2019. VA OIG.
