Request for Proposals Business Information Management Systems The First Nations Health Authority is seeking the services of an Integrated Finance and Human Resources Information Systems Provider to provide application solutions and implementation services to support the new First Nations Health Authority.
Qualified respondents are invited to submit proposals based on the requirements contained herein.
1.0
Preface
The sole purpose of this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) and all resulting responses is to assist the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) to identify experienced and qualified Proponents regarding Finance, Procurement, Contract Management, Human Resources, Payroll, Time and Attendance Solutions for a specific project as outline. The responses will help the FNHA ascertain the party that is most likely to fulfil its requirements. This RFP is an invitation to Proponents to submit a Proposal. It is not an offer capable of acceptance by Proponents. No contract will be formed between the First Nations Health Authority and any Proponent in relation to this RFP by reason of the submission of any Proposal or otherwise. The First Nations Health Authority prides itself on its operating and management principles to be a professional, fair and diverse entity that cherish its privilege to serve British Columbia First Nations communities in the enhancement of health. With this in mind, it seeks a fair and unbiased selection process and intends to uphold the qualification requirements outlined without prejudice.
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Table of Contents 1.0
Preface ................................................................................................................................. 2
2.0
Organization Overview ....................................................................................................... 5
3.0
Project Overview ................................................................................................................. 6
4.0
Project Goals ....................................................................................................................... 7 4.1 Overall Project Goals – Finance and HR Streams .............................................................. 7 4.2 Finance Specific Project Goals ............................................................................................ 7 4.3 Human Resources Specific Project Goals ........................................................................... 7
5.0
Project Description ............................................................................................................. 8 5.1 Future View .......................................................................................................................... 8 5.1.1 Financial Information System ..................................................................................... 8 5.1.2 Human Resources Information Systems .................................................................... 8 5.2 Requirements and Current State ......................................................................................... 9 5.2.1 Organization Technical Environment ......................................................................... 9 5.2.2 Regulatory and Security Environment ........................................................................ 9 5.2.3 Organisational Structural Environment ...................................................................... 9 5.2.4 Reporting Environment ............................................................................................. 10 5.2.5 Financial Environment .............................................................................................. 10 5.2.6 Human Resources & Pay Environment .................................................................... 11
6.0
Deliverables ....................................................................................................................... 20
7.0
Assumptions and Agreements ........................................................................................ 21
8.0
Project Timelines .............................................................................................................. 21
9.0
Payment Schedule ............................................................................................................ 22
10.0
Experience Requirements ................................................................................................ 22
11.0
Response Format .............................................................................................................. 22
12.0
Instructions to Proponents .............................................................................................. 24 12.1 Notice of Intent to Submit a Proposal .............................................................................. 24 12.2 Format .............................................................................................................................. 24 12.3 Submissions of Proposals................................................................................................ 24 12.4 Amendments to Proposals ............................................................................................... 25 12.5 Questions ......................................................................................................................... 25 12.6 Discrepancies, Omissions and Questions ....................................................................... 25 12.7 Addenda ........................................................................................................................... 25
13.0
Key Date Table .................................................................................................................. 26
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14.0
Evaluation and Selection.................................................................................................. 27 14.1 Evaluation Committee ...................................................................................................... 27 14.2 Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................................ 27 14.3 Evaluation Scoring ........................................................................................................... 27 14.4 Additional Information ...................................................................................................... 28 14.5 Interviews ......................................................................................................................... 28 14.6 Conflict of Interest ............................................................................................................ 28 14.7 Contract Negotiation and Award ...................................................................................... 28 14.8 Good Faith Negotiations .................................................................................................. 29 14.9 Period of Offer .................................................................................................................. 29 14.10 Debriefing ....................................................................................................................... 29
15.0
General Terms and Conditions ........................................................................................ 30 15.1 Right of the First Nations Health Authority to Reject Proposals and Cancel RFP ........... 30 15.2 Waiver of Deficiencies ..................................................................................................... 30 15.3 Proponent’s Expenses ..................................................................................................... 30 15.4 Limitation of Liability......................................................................................................... 30 15.5 Liability for Errors ............................................................................................................. 30 15.6 Confidentiality .................................................................................................................. 31 15.7 Ownership of Proposals ................................................................................................... 31 15.8 Working Language ........................................................................................................... 31
16.0
Defined Terms ................................................................................................................... 32
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2.0
Organization Overview
The First Nations Health Council (FNHC) works with British Columbia and Canadian Federal agencies, to narrow and close the gap in delivering and maintaining health standards between First Nations individuals and other British Columbians. The fifteen member Health Council is mandated by two agreements, the Transformative Change Accord First Nations Health Plan (2006), and the Tripartite First Nations Health Plan (2007). The Council is composed of regional representatives from the Northern, Vancouver Coastal, Interior, Fraser and Vancouver Island Regions. In April 2009 the Health Council enacted a business arm, the First Nations Health Society (FNHS). The FNHS is operated by a Board of Directors comprised of public and private health professionals, including community development experts. It is tasked with overseeing and managing Society staff and assets. Further information about the FNHC can be obtained from the website www.fnhc.ca In May 2011, the Society convened a gathering of BC First Nations political and technical leaders, who passed a unanimous resolution to support a number of directives for the Society. During this gathering, First Nations leaders also supported the signing of an agreement (The Framework Agreement) with the Federal and Provincial Governments which provides for the transfer of the BC First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) office, and all of its resources and functions, from Health Canada to BC First Nations to govern and manage. This will be achieved through the establishment of a new First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) which will assume the FNIHB resources and responsibilities over a two (2) to five (5) year transition period.
Directives under this Framework Agreement include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Adopting Community-driven, Nation-based approaches; Improving services; Fostering collaboration and partnership; Increasing First Nations decision-and control over health services; Developing human and economic capacity; Not interfering with First Nations rights, and the fiduciary responsibilities to First Nations of the Federal government; Functioning at a high operational standard;
Further to the directives listed above, in January 2012, the Society changed its name from the First Nations Health Society to the interim First Nations Health Authority (iFNHA), which, as of August 21, 2012, is now the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). Additional information about the FNHC/FNHA can be obtained from the website www.fnhc.ca
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3.0
Project Overview
The First Nations Health Authority is seeking the services of a Finance (including Procurement/Logistics and Contract Management) and Human Resources (including Payroll and Time & Attendance) Information Systems Provider to provide an integrated application solution to support the new First Nations Health Authority. This includes the architecture, design and implementation of the Financial, Payroll and HR solutions and ongoing operational support. The First Nations Health Authority is in the process of defining the future state of the organization and is investigating various service models to support its operations including, but not limited, to:
On-premise applications managed by FNHA (Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or otherwise) including full cycle payroll processing;
Software as a Service (SaaS); and
Managed Services (Business Process Outsourcing) from partial to full services.
As the FNHA is in the process of designing the FNHA’s structure, policy and processes, the project and solution design will take a collaborative approach where all parties will strive to implement a solution that meets the goals of project. Proponents Proposals are to include their full range of product and service offerings and pricing structure suitable to this project. Proposals are to detail the degree to which each of the product and service offerings supports the requirements contained herein. Proponents can respond to all or part of the requirements detailed herein, however it is highly desirable to implement a fully integrated Finance and HR platform. Proposals will be triaged and priorities defined based on the cost vs. benefits of each offering provided in the Proposal. In this manner, responses to this RFP will provide guidance in the crafting the final end-state solution that will be implemented.
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4.0
Project Goals
4.1 Overall Project Goals – Finance and HR Streams
Deliver Financial, Human Resources and Payroll systems to support the ongoing operations of the newly formed First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) that are integrated, cost-effective, sustainable, scalable, user-friendly, compliant with all regulatory and legislative requirements, follows best practice, secure and meets the needs of the FNHA as articulated in herein;
Implement integrated, standardized and streamlined processes and automated workflow to ensure data quality, reduce redundancy and create greater efficiency;
Integrate applications and systems to improve productivity and decrease errors;
Deliver Financial, Payroll and HR systems that are as ‘out-of-the-box’ as possible;
Enable Employees and Managers to perform their job functions in the new First Nations Health Authority as they do today with no loss of functionality from a Finance, HR and pay perspective; and
Deliver flexible, efficient and user friendly report writing and data extraction tools for the end users.
4.2 Finance Specific Project Goals
Enable and support internal control of spending and commitment of resources;
Deliver a flexible chart of account and structure which enables the capturing and reporting of financial and statistical information; and
Meet the desired Go-Live date of April 1, 2013 for First Nations Health Authority transactions (general ledger and accounts payable) with FNHIB transactions coming on at Transfer Date of July 1, 2013.
4.3 Human Resources Specific Project Goals
Deliver Payroll, and other critical HR modules required to support the production of pay, by July 1, 2013; and
Employees from the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch will be hired into the new system by July 1, 2013. The current FNHA employees will be migrated to the new payroll system by July 1, 2013. Systems must be in place at this time to support the full transition of the employees from their former organizations’ payroll and HRIS systems into the new solution(s).
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5.0
Project Description
5.1 Future View Applications are required to support Financial Management, Procurement/Logistics, Contract Management and Human Resources functional aspects for the First Nations Health Authority. It is anticipated that the full functional implementation of the solution will be a phased approach over the next one to three years. The following functionality is what is envisioned, at a high-level, for the FNHA. Not all functionality may be procured; priorities will be defined based on a cost vs. benefit analysis. Detailed requirements that the Proponents are requested to respond to are found in Appendix B: Detailed Requirements Matrix. 5.1.1 Financial Information System General Ledger: Chart of Accounts, Journal Processing, Period & Fiscal Year-end Close, Reporting & On-line Inquiry Accounts Payable: Voucher Processing, Matching, Payment Processing and Vendor Maintenance, Reporting & On-line Inquiry Accounts Receivable: Customer File Maintenance, Billing, Collection, Reporting & Online Inquiry Employee Expense Management Treasury & Cash Management Contract Management Capital Asset Management Budget, Financial Planning and Reporting Reporting Capabilities, both standard reports and advanced report writing to meet legislative/regulatory requirements and business needs Logistics/Procurement including Purchasing, Receiving, Inventory Control & Management 5.1.2 Human Resources Information Systems Job Requisition & Posting Applicant Tracking Employee Master File Payroll Processing Time Tracking including Absence and Leave Management Salary & Compensation Management Employee and Manager Self Service including automated workflow Benefits Administration and/or integration/export/import to Benefit Providers Payroll General Ledger including Labour Distribution Performance Management Education & Training Skill & Qualifications Grievance & Dispute Resolution Tracking
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Occupational Health & Safety/WCB Tracking Position Management & Budgeting Reporting Capabilities, both standard reports and advanced report writing to meet legislative/regulatory requirements and business needs Succession Planning & Career Development: To Be Determined but Proponents are requested to comment on their products ability to scale to include this functionality Job Evaluation and Benchmarking: To Be Determined, likely outsourced and Proponents are requested to comment on their products ability to scale to include this functionality rd and/or provide this service as a 3 party
5.2 Requirements and Current State 5.2.1 Organization Technical Environment Productivity Tools: Typical office productivity tools include Microsoft Windows 2010, MS Office 2010 including Word, Excel, Visio, Project, and Outlook, SharePoint 2010, Adobe Acrobat and Windows Internet Explorer 9 Workstation: Workstation configurations vary throughout the FNHA, particularly in the Health Community Centres. At a minimum, workstations are Dell computers having at least a 2.0 Ghz processor, with 2-4 GB of RAM. Infrastructure and Network: Data Centre will support MS Server 2008, MS SQL Server 2008, VMWare VSpher5, Exchange 2010. FNHA locations will be supported by a variety of private network technologies, varying from shared bandwidth of 128kb/s satellite links to GigE MPLS links. Some legacy Internet site-to-site VPN locations may also be encountered. The HRIS and Finance administration staff are expected to be served by a minimum of 5Mb/s MPLS circuits, with the majority connected to the FNHA Data Centre on a redundant 100Mb/s MPLS circuit. FNHA has standardized on Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, using Microsoft Forefront TMG Anti-Virus. All corporate machines will be managed by FNHA’s Active Directory infrastructure. Access from non-FNHA owned devices may be enabled, using Citrix. 5.2.2 Regulatory and Security Environment FNHA will be subject to adhere to legislative requirements including the Employment Standards Act and/or Canada Labour Code, CRA regulation, privacy laws including BC’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA), and the BC Society Act. FNHA will adhere to best practices including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). FNHA will employ stringent privacy and security policies and practices to data, network and application management and administration. Security is required at the module, panel/screen, action and field level. The workflow and security module/matrix must consider the organization’s Delegation of Authority. 5.2.3 Organisational Structural Environment The First Nations Health Authority will have the following organizational groups: Corporate Head Offices/Vancouver Head Quarters: Four locations in the Vancouver Lower Mainland house approximately 125 employees (~60 are current FNHA employees (formerly HNHS employees), ~50 are current Health Canada employees). Business units
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include: Human Resources Management, Finance, Facilities, Contract and Contribution Management, Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT), Communications, Marketing, Community Engagement, Health Benefits Administration, and Strategic Program and Policy Management Teams to support various Health initiatives (Health Actions, Environment Health, Nursing, Dental, Educational and Prevention Programs, etc.). Environment Field Offices and Health Stations/Community Health Centres: There are approximately 60 facilities in the First Nations communities throughout British Columbia with approximately 260 employees. These facilities range in function from small information and education facilities to those that provide a full range of clinical services. These sites can be rural with limited technology and telecommunication services.
5.2.4 Reporting Environment The FNHA requires the solution to provide a host of standard reports, including those required for compliance and regulatory reporting. In addition, the solution must allow for the creation and saving of reports (both to private and public libraries) using a sophisticated, yet easy to use reporting tool. 5.2.5 Financial Environment The First Nations Health Authority currently uses AccPac 6.0 general ledger and accounts payable applications. Contracts are managed using a combination of MS Access, Word, Excel and SharePoint. Payroll data is loaded into the general ledger from information received from the service provider. Excel templates are used for developing Budgets and the final budget is loaded into the AccPac budget ledger. Accounts receivable transactions are at a minimum. The organizations fiscal year is from April 1 to March 31. To enable financial reporting for the full fiscal year, it is desired to have the general ledger and accounts payable processes implemented on the new financial platform as of April 1, 2013. It is also desired to retain historical data for the four fiscal years (from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2013) that the organization has been in existence. First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) operations will be transferred to FNHA as of July 1, 2013 (Transfer Date). As of this date, the majority of transactions will be processed directly by FNHA to pay for items such as payroll (explained in more detail in section 5.2.6), travel reimbursements to employees, contract payments to consultants and First Nation communities, and payments for goods and services to vendors. The financial systems and business processes must be designed and enabled to procure goods and services and process these transactions as of the Transfer Date. Enhancements and system improvements can occur after transfer date. The FNHA will be using fund accounting to manage restricted and unrestricted funds. There is also the possibility that a charitable arm will be added at a future date and thus the system must be able to handle multiple entities. The chart of accounts structure should, at a minimum, allow for an entity code, fund code, department code, and balance sheet/revenue/expense code. Transaction approvals and levels of approvals should be managed by the system based on the organization’s delegation authority matrix.
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The table below provides more information on annual volumes: First Nations Health Authority
First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
General Ledger # Transaction Lines Accounts payable # Vendors # Cheques and EFT payments Contracts # of Contracts # of Templates Chart of Accounts # of Segments # of GL account combinations
34,000
115,000
1,700 4,500
TBD TBD
80 5
250 6
2 1,200
4 TBD
5.2.6 Human Resources & Pay Environment The employee base will be diverse and comprised of approximately 400 employees that are currently employed by the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada or the First Nations Health Authority (formerly the First Nations Health Society employees). Below describes the anticipated future functional and technical requirements and is to provide guidance to the Proponent to complete Proposals. The implementation of the requirements below may be phased but at minimum employees must be successfully on-boarded and paid from the new FNHA by July 1, 2013, therefore, all supporting applications and infrastructure required to achieve this goal must be operational by this time. The FNHA must continue to pay and manage resources currently governed under six federal collective agreements until they expire in 2014, and potentially beyond that time if the FNHA has not finalized negotiation of their own collective agreement(s). The FNHA will be evolving over the next five years and will be modifying programs and services to support the transforming organization and culture of the new First Nations Health Authority. 5.2.6.1
Payroll
Currently, there is only one CRA Business Number for the FNHA, having two Payroll Account (RP) numbers; one RP for employees on Payroll and the other for the Board of Directors. There is the potential, in future, that new Business Numbers or additional RP numbers may be required. FNHA will have between two to five payroll areas (separate pay area for Executives as example). All but one group will be paid bi-weekly at the same time, with the same pay day, via the same process, from a centralized location (Corporate Head Office); the pay cycle dates may differ for hourly employees vs. salary. The one group that may be paid via Payroll having a different frequency is the Board of Directors who is paid a monthly honorarium. There is also the potential to pay other honorariums (e.g. Health Council members and Secretariats) monthly or quarterly, although this function may remain within the Accounts Payable area.
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Expected Annual Volumes: Pay Cheques = 10,400 T4/ T4A = 400 Earning Codes = 100+ Deductions Codes = 100+ Taxable Benefit Codes = 100+ Accruals = 100+ Record of Employment = 100 Hires = 100 Transfers/Promotions = 20% churn rate
Employee Work Location: FNHA will produce payroll for employees working within British Columbia only.
Work Week: Current First Nations Health Authority employees work a 35-hour work week, current FNIHB employees work a 37.5-hour work week. Flexible (varying start-end time) and variable work schedules (compressed/fort-night) are permitted. Currently, there are no ‘shift’ workers and the business does not operate 24/7 but there are numerous provisions and allowances (refer to collective agreements). In future, shift work and 24/7 operations may be considered.
Employee Populations & Types
The future FNHA will have 360 full-time and 40 casual/term/part-time employees The future FNHA will have 10 Executives, 30 Senior Managers/Managers and 360 Employees The future FNHA will have 15 Human Resources staff and 2 Payroll staff
Employee Types and Classifications:
Staff can be paid on an hourly (positive pay) or salary (exception/negative pay) basis There is a mix of “On Reserve” (eligible for the tax exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act.) and “Off Reserve” employees Unions exist within Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and the current collective agreements will remain in effect within the FNHA until they expire in 2014 (and potentially beyond). At that time, agreements may be ratified or new agreements struck.
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Collective Agreements Union (Bargaining Group Unit)
Classifications that apply to FNIHB transferring employees
Link
No. of EEs 40
Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
Technical Services (TC)
Engineering and Scientific Support (EG)
http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/tc/tceng.asp
Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
Program and Administrative Services (PA)
http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/pa/paeng.asp
106
Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)
Computer Systems (CS)
Administrative Services (AS) Information Services (IS) Programme Administration (PM) Data Processing (DA) Clerical and Regulatory (CR) All employees
5
Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)
Health Services (SH)
http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/cs/cseng.asp http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/sh/sheng.asp
Canadian Associations of Professional Employees (CAPE) Association of Canadian Financial Officers (APSFO)
Economics and Social Science Services (EC)
http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/ec/eceng.asp http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hr pubs/coll_agre/fi/fieng.asp
4
Financial Management (FI)
Dentistry (DE) Nutrition and Dietetics (ND) Medicine (MD) Nursing (NU) Pharmacy (PH) All employees
All employees
61
5
Employee Union Types: Indeterminate: Full-time and part-time employees with a regular schedule and no end date Terms: Employees with an end date; classes are based on length of employment: < 3 months >3 months and < 6 months > 6 months Casual: work 90 days or less per calendar year within a given Federal Department (example: Fisheries, Health Canada are departments in this context) Note: at project on-set there will be no Term employees moving over from Health Canada-FNIHB but the solution may need to support the pay, benefit/pension eligibility and accrual rules for these classes of employees in future. Given the complex union environment there are numerous pay and accrual rules, allowances, premiums, earning and deduction types which must be configured and calculated based on union/employee group and job classification within the selected solution.
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5.2.6.2
Job Details
Classification: There are two approaches to the classification of jobs within the organization; one for Excluded/Un-Represented employees and one governed by the collective agreements. Excluded Jobs: Jobs are classified by level within the organization (Executive, Management and Individual Contributor as example) and described by industry standard attributes such as occupational group, job family etc. Union Jobs: Jobs have a three tiered description which the system must accommodate; e.g. Community Health Nurse Level 2 would have a code NU-CHN-2 based on the following job structure breakdown: Occupational Group (e.g. Nurse, two character code NU), Optional Subgroups (e.g. Nurse-Hospital, Nurse-Community Health Nursing, three character code HOS or CHN) Level (1-9, < 10, numeric) As with Excluded jobs, job will be described by attributes such as job family, occupational group, etc. Alternative Job Arrangements: Currently, there are no employees working concurrent jobs under different company codes (only one company code currently exists), this could change in the future Currently, no employees work multiple jobs although in future it could be possible for employees to work part-time in two different positions in two different unions Employee can work as: Secondment: Employee is typically at the same pay level but working ‘on loan’ in another department for a set period of time. The employee hours and wages can be charged to either business unit depending on the arrangement. Acting Assignment: Employee is temporary working in a higher level position than their current position and is being compensated as such. Typically the business unit the employee is acting in is charged the payroll and related expenses. Job & Position Management: The FNHA will be using full and true position management for all aspects of budget and financial forecasting, job and employee management. There can be many positions associated with one job Generally, with some exceptions, there is one incumbent per position Full audit tracking and reporting of transactions is required Employees can have an organization department different from their payroll department FTE is defined based on position type. For Excluded positions, 1.0 FTE is based on a 35.0 hour work week; for union positions, 1.0 FTE is based on a 37.5 hour work week Automated workflow for the creation and approval of positions must align with the Delegation of Authority and can be up to 5 approval levels. 5.2.6.3
Compensation Management
There are two approaches to Compensations Management; one for Excluded/Un-Represented employees and one governed by the collective agreements. Currently, there are no variable pay, bonus or commission structures. This could change in the long term.
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Excluded Compensation: Salary is classified into three tiers: Salary Group, Salary Level and Salary Band. Within each band there are 5 levels (min-max). Salary is reviewed at the same time across the organization for all employees and is tied with the fiscal year. Salary increases are based on a matrix/grid which considers what percentile the employee is paid within their salary band and their performance rating. Employees in their role less than one year receive a prorated increase. Union Compensation: Each job as described in Job Details is aligned with a salary grid (refer to specific collective agreement). There is an average of 5 salary grids per occupational group. Within each grid are union wage steps (increments) to a maximum of 12 steps. Within each grid, there are ‘revision’ dates which dictate when the increment is effective. There are five revisions, typically, per grid representing the starting salary increments and annual increases over the four year term of the collective agreement. Other specific compensation rules can be found within each collective agreement, including progression requirements to achieve the next salary increment. 5.2.6.4
Skill & Qualification
Skills: Skills are categorized and are associated with both jobs/positions and employees for reporting and gap analysis. Qualifications: Qualifications are categorized and are associated with both jobs/positions and employees for reporting and gap analysis. It is mandatory to track qualifications based on job/position (e.g. the tracking of nursing licenses). Qualification tracking includes date acquired, expiry date, issuing body and category. Upload of electronic copies of licenses, certifications, credentials, etc. to the employee record is required. Other: Tracking of medical test and immunizations is required dependent on job duty and location performed. 5.2.6.5
Performance Management
There are two Performance Management approaches; one for Excluded/Un-Represented employees and one for union employees. Excluded Groups: Employees are first measured after hire at the three month mark, referred to as the Probationary Period. Goals & Objectives are documented for each employee and cascade from the Divisional Strategic Goals, which cascade from the Business Strategic Goals. Each of the employee’s goals is weighted (percentage). Annually, aligned with the merit increase process, performance is measured for the employees and a numeric rating based on performance for each goal determined. Each goal is scored (rating and weight are multiplied) and all goals are averaged to determine the employee’s final performance score. The score is translated into a final rating as follows: 67 to 100 = Exceeds 33 to 66 = Meets < 33 = Below
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Along with performance monitoring, each performance plan for the employee contains a learning and development plan. This plan is used to capture career paths, identify skills, qualification, and learning gaps and actions to bridge gaps. Performance Improvement Plans are also monitored within this same process. Union Groups: Performance in this group is reviewed annually and the employee either meets, or does not meet, their performance expectations. If the employee requires a Performance Improvement Plan, this process is formally documented and becomes a labour relations issue. In this case, not only must documentation be rigorously maintained, but all documents must be signed by the line manager, and ideally the employee. 5.2.6.6
Learning & Development
This program is in development. Learning: The desired end state will include the tracking of employees’ education (both internally and externally), training costs, training quality and automated workflow for employee training requests and manager approval of training. Specific jobs/positions require specific training to be completed. Development: The desired end state will include the tracking of learning opportunities such job shadowing, secondments, acting assignments and mentoring programs (including tracking of mentor, mentee, goals and outcomes). Other: On-boarding training and other requirements; tracking of required courses (e.g. privacy education on hire) and policy acknowledgment (e.g. annual review and acknowledgement Standards of Business Conduct Policy).
5.2.6.7
Talent Management & Succession Planning
This program is in development. Career Mapping is documented with the employee’s performance plan. Succession planning for the Executive bench will require that skills, qualifications, training and competencies are attached to the job/position and at the employee level so gap analyses can be produced. On this data, the performance information for the employee will be layered. 5.2.6.8
Benefits
Benefits are Traditional benefit plans. There may be consideration in future to move to a flexible benefit plan. Both the employee and employer contribute to premiums dependent on employee group (union or Excluded) and/or employee type (Executive or Non-Executive and part-time or full-time) with differing eligibility rules applying.
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First Nations Health Authority (current) Plan Sun Life: Medical, Dental, Extended Health, LTD, Life 100% Employer Paid Note: Sick Plan is not a Short Term Disability Plan but rather a sick bank based on sick time earned/used. Medical Service Plan of BC: 100% Employer Paid
Health Canada Plan Public Service Health Care Plan Sun Life: Extended Health and Hospital: 100% employer paid for Level I but employees can upgrade to Level II or III at additional cost to the employee Disability Insurance & LTD (except Management/Excluded) 85% Employer:15%Employee Paid Industrial Alliance Excluded & Managers Long Term Disability, 100% Employer Paid Great West Life Dental: All 100% Employer Paid Medical Service Plan of BC : 50%Employer:50%Employee Paid
5.2.6.9
Disability Management
The current strategic direction is to outsource disability management to an external 3rd party. This third party will manage cases and provide reporting (including costs of claims to the organization) and recommendations to manage claims to reduce costs and occurrence. Proponents are asked to quote if they provide this Service. 5.2.6.10 Pension The pension plan will be a defined benefit plan with both the employer and the employee contributing to the plan. Eligibility will be based on hours/time worked combined with the employee status/type. Contribution payroll deductions, reporting and remittance to the pension plan processes must be automated. Current Excluded FNHA employees can opt out of the pension plan but new and union employees must participate. 5.2.6.11 Time and Attendance Time Tracking: Given the union environment, there are complex pay rules for all earning types. Overtime, allowances, premium calculations, seniority etc. must all be programmable and automatically calculated based on the collective agreements and business rules. Ideally, time is entered via a web-based form by the employee with workflow for manager approval and time card sign-off by Payroll (no badge swipes required). Employees are paid both on positive and negative pay processes. Leave Management: Given the union environment and number of collective agreements, there are many leave provisions that need to be accounted for. Leaves can be paid or unpaid and are earned based on varying business rules within each collective agreement and can be complex in
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nature. Full tracking of leave earned (accruals) and taken is required, coupled with automated workflow for the requesting and approval of leaves. 5.2.6.12 Occupational Health & Safety
Recording of accidents/incidents detailing date and time of event, name and address of person(s) involved in event (person injured), location of event, description of event, attending first aid/medical team name and address, nature of injury, tracking of filing with WCB Recording of investigations noting investigator and results/observation including a classification of cause Recording of corrective action take as a result of investigations including training programs created as a result of Tracking of WCB claims (status, costs etc.) Cost of incident including WCB claim and other Reporting to meet all regulatory and compliance WorkSafe BC & JOSH reporting requirements Training for preventative measures to avoid/reduce Occupational Health & Safety incidents (stored in L&D module)
5.2.6.13 Employee and Manager Self Service Employee Self Service: Functionality to include the on-line viewing of pay and employee records, edit of personal data (address, pay deposit account, tax forms etc.) and automated workflow for requesting of items such as leave, training, education etc. and on-boarding workflow. Manager Self Service: Functionality to include the viewing of business unit employees position, salary and performance information, reporting for the functional unit, automated workflow approval of employee requests, job posting/requisition requests, position management add/changes, initiation of changes to employee salary, candidate ranking and selection, and update of the employee performance management plan. 5.2.6.14 Recruitment, Selection & Application Tracking Full on-line tracking of job postings, candidate tracking, candidate ranking, candidate screening (including various reference and other checks), candidate testing, candidate policy acknowledgement, maintenance of candidate pools (e.g. nursing pool), and automated processes to ensure data retention aligns with policy. 5.2.6.15 Discipline Management Given the union environment, tracking of discipline is required. Attributes include: Unique Discipline record ID # Category of offense Date of offense Location of offense Employee’s name Auto-population of business unit, line manager, bargaining unit, collective agreement and union representative for the employee
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Action date Action taken
5.2.6.16 Grievance & Dispute Resolution Given the union environment, there is a formal grievance procedure in place with up to four levels of grievance escalation: Attributes include: Unique Grievance record ID # Who has filed the grievance Auto-population of business unit, line manager, bargaining unit, collective agreement and union representative for the employee What the grievance is Date grievance was filed Date the grievance was accepted (accept by Management) Follow-up action (c/b one to four levels) Follow-up action due date (c/b one to four levels) Follow-up result (c/b one to four levels) Grievance Status (resolved, continuing, hold) Comment box Grievance solution 5.2.6.17 Rewards and Recognition This program is under development but ideally, the tracking of service recognition including type of award, monetary value and date award, and support for peer recognition initiatives. 5.2.6.18 Document Management Storage of electronic documents (such as qualification credentials, proof of citizenship, marriage, name change etc.) attached to the employee record within each functional module. 5.2.6.19 Employee Asset Management Ability to track assets assigned to the employee such as cellular phone, laptop, special equipment, access cards, corporate credit cards, etc. Ideally, data will be associated with job/position in addition to the employee record and can be incorporated into an automatic provisioning process on hire/job change. 5.2.6.20 Organization Chart Production This functionality would be a ‘nice to have’ and would create organization charts based on Position Management data. 5.2.6.21 Interfaces/Data Exchange As the FNHA is in the process of the designing the future state, no interfaces exists at this time. The FNHA prefers an integrated/real-time solution where at all possible. Where not possible, data flow from the HRIS and Payroll perspective will be: HRPayroll (HR inbound & outbound)
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6.0
Payroll ->Finance (Payroll outbound): Payroll General Ledger, bi-weekly (output of payroll process) HR->Time System (HR outbound): Employee demographic, pay rules and time profile, nightly Time->Payroll (Payroll inbound): Hours and rate/earnings, bi-weekly (for pay) Benefits Provider->Payroll (Payroll inbound): Benefit deduction file, bi-weekly (for pay) HR->Benefits/Pension Provider (HR outbound): Employee benefit eligibility and benefit selection, the need for this functionally is to be determined and will be Provider dependent ATS->HR (HR inbound): Employee demographic data and selection information, the need for this functionally is to be determined Data warehouse (HR, Payroll, Finance outbound): There is a potential that data may populate an internal data warehouse
Deliverables
Following industry best practice, the successful Proponent will work with the FNHA Management, Human Resources, Finance and Information Management/Information Technology teams to deliver the anticipated project scope components. 1. Assess the FNHA specifications, standards, protocols and requirements to deliver a Finance & Human Resources Implementation Road Map detailing the high-level functional and application/module(s) to be implemented and their timing; 2. Participate in the assessment of the FNHA specifications, standards, protocols and requirements to deliver detailed Functional Requirements for both the Finance and HR Streams; 3. Lead the delivery of, and development of, the Technical Requirements including data structure, network, interface, file transfer, data migration and workstation requirements for both the Finance and HR Streams; 4. Lead and perform the solution installation/implementation to satisfy the detailed Functional and Technical Requirements including system(s) implementation, system(s) configuration, system(s) customization (included interfaces) and the design and implementation of the data architecture for both the Finance and HR Streams; 5. Lead and develop custom programs (including interfaces) as required to support the Functional and Technical requirements for both the Finance and HR Streams; 6. Participate in and support the testing of all Technical and Functional Requirements including User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Integration Testing and Payroll Parallels; 7. Training of IM/IT, Finance, Payroll and Human Resources Staff; 8. Lead and perform automated data conversion of financial data from the current Accpac solution including historical data for the four fiscal years (from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2013) that the organization has been in existence; 9. Lead and perform automated data conversion of Contract and Contributions data from an Oracle database with attached WordPerfect documents that require conversion to MS Word; 10. Lead and perform automated data conversion of current employee data from PeopleSoft and SAP Health Canada systems; 11. Support the development of the overall project implementation tactics, sequencing, resourcing and timeline plan; and
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12. Provide support in the analysis of ongoing operational management and support model, both for the transition to the First Nation Health Authority to the new platform and for the long-term.
7.0
Assumptions and Agreements
The Proponent will: 1. Have full cooperation of First Nations Health Authority staff and access to information necessary to meet the accountabilities set out in this Request for Proposal; 2. Describe a range of product and service offerings including price structures that will respond to the needs of the new First Nations Health Authority as described herein; 3. Participate in regularly scheduled status meetings and provide weekly (or as agreed to) written status reports (using MS Word/Excel) summarizing deliverables achieved/remaining, progress to date, expected delivery due dates of each as well as issues and concerns affecting specific deliverables, schedule or any other aspect of the project; and 4. Comprehensive and quality documentation is critical to the success of the project for knowledge transfer and audit purposes. For each of the deliverables as detailed in the “Deliverables” Section above, the Proponent will provide written reports and related documentation using MS Word and where appropriate include accompanying Excel spreadsheets (e.g. Budgets, Bill of Materials, resource matrices, etc.), and Visio drawings (e.g. network architecture and detail design). The First Nations Health Authority will: 1. Provide a reasonable level of human resources to meet the accountabilities set out in this Request for Proposal; 2. Consider all product and service offerings provided in the Response and will pursue those solutions that meet the needs of the organization in a cost-effective manner; 3. Will be responsible for, and provide the following:
8.0
Overall project management for the Human Resources and Financial (Business) Information Systems Project; Facilitation of communications/approvals and liaising with stakeholders including Vendors, First Nation Health organizations and Health Authorities throughout British Columbia for information gathering; Procurement of facilities, equipment, services and/or upgrades as needed; Approval of deliverables completed by the Proponent and associated payments.
Project Timelines
The requirements described herein are anticipated to support the FNHA and the implementation may be phased. The implementation of applications/modules and their timing will be mutually agreed upon by the Proponent and FNHA and will span over the next three years. At a minimum, employees must be successfully on-boarded and paid from the new FNHA by July 1, 2013, therefore, all supporting applications and infrastructure required to achieve this key functionality must be operational by this time.
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It is desired to have the general ledger and accounts payable processes operational on the new financial platform as of April 1, 2013 with support of First Nations Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) operations by July 1, 2013 (Transfer Date). As of July 1, 2013, the majority of transactions will be processed directly by FNHA to pay for items such as payroll (explained in more detail in section 5.2.6), travel reimbursements to employees, contract payments to consultants and First Nation communities, and payments for goods and services to vendors. The financial systems and business processes must be designed and enabled to procure goods and services and process these transactions as of the Transfer Date. Enhancements and system improvements can occur after Transfer Date in a phased approach.
9.0
Payment Schedule
Payment is to be tied to successful completion of agreed to deliverables. A payment schedule will be negotiated at time of contract award. Potential Proponents are required to submit a time and materials contract Proposal.
10.0 Experience Requirements The FNHA requires the following experience requirements: Experience providing Services to both Small to Medium Enterprises and Large Enterprises; Experience providing Services to an organization with a multi-union environment; Experience implementing Financial and Human Resources solutions specific to Health Authorities within the Province of British Columbia; Experience providing Services to/supporting of Federal Government Agencies and/or Departments; Experience implementing and supporting Enterprise Resources Planning and Best of Breed solutions; and Experience implementing Financial and Human Resources solutions as described herein.
11.0 Response Format At a minimum, Reponses must include: 1. Proponents Name, Key Contact and Business Registration Details; 2. Description of the Proponents organization, size and structure. Indicate if appropriate, if the Proponent is a small or minority-owned business; 3. Proponents and their Strategic Partners may submit a joint Response providing the parties have an established, long term working relationship and have implemented numerous projects of this scope and scale under the partnership and one Proponent is designated as the Primary for all matters; 4. Description of prior experience, experience should include a developed understanding and experience of First Nations and Health Authority environments, and experience in working with British Columbia’s Health Authorities/First Nation communities/Federal/Provincial agencies; 5. Provide a list of three (3) References, located in North America, to whom it has delivered project services similar to those described in this RFP. Proponent must demonstrate comprehensive understanding and experience in designing and implementing a comprehensive project of this
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6.
7. 8. 9. 10.
11.
12.
magnitude and nature. Proponent will support and coordinate activities for on-site visits for the References provided; Description of the Project Management, Quality Assurance, Change Management and Risk Management approach and methods to ensure successful delivery of the Project, including estimated time in months and other pertinent information; Statement of the availability of the Proponent’s staff to commence the Project and role in the Project; Provide a detailed profile/resume for the key resources recommended for this Project; Description of the Operational/Ongoing Service and Support Model and include a form of Contract, Service Level Agreement, Software Licensing Agreement, etc. with Proposals; Description of the services and products available that will meet the needs of the Project. Description of how the proposed solution(s) meet the Functional Requirements described herein and completion of Appendix B: Detailed Requirements Matrix; For each product/service offering included in the Response, provide a cost estimate for implementation (‘a-la-carte’ price structure) and ongoing (schedule of fees) by completion of Appendix C: Pricing Details including pertinent information and confidence level in cost estimate (+/- Percentage). In addition, there may be a requirement to provide supplementary resources (i.e. backfill at some of the stakeholder organizations) with the Proponents’ employees which are participating in this project. Proponents are required to provide their proposed resource costs for professional services in Appendix C: Pricing Details in section C; Description of the Technical Environment (installation environment, workstation requirements, etc.) required to support the proposed solution, including system security and privacy policies, Business Continuity Plans and Disaster Recovery process.
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12.0 Instructions to Proponents 12.1 Notice of Intent to Submit a Proposal Potential proponents are asked to send an email to the Contact Person confirming they intend to submit a proposal for this RFP and providing a key contact person name and email address. This will enable the First Nations Health Authority to inform potential proponents of any questions and answers that are submitted and of any changes to the RFP process should they occur. The First Nations Health Authority assumes no responsibility for ensuring that potential proponents are sent subsequent information about this RFP if no Notice of Intent is received. 12.2 Format Proponents should use the response template outlined in Appendix A. Electronic proposals should be submitted in (PC) Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel (.xls) or PDF file formats. Proposals should be clearly labelled in the title of the email. 12.3 Submissions of Proposals Proposals must be submitted to location stated below by the Closing Time set out in the Key Date Table. Proposals may be emailed, delivered, faxed or posted by mail: NAME:
Sheridan Hall, Contracts Administrator
EMAIL:
[email protected]
PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 501-100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2 POSTAL ADDRESS:
501-100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2
FAX:
604-913-2081
IT IS THE PROPONENT’S SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE ITS PROPOSAL IS RECEIVED AT THE ADDRESS SET OUT ABOVE BY THE CLOSING TIME. Proponents should note that it is their responsibility to ensure that email transmissions are free from all viruses. If the First Nations Health Authority receives an email transmission that is infected with a virus or other electronic code that, in the sole opinion of the First Nations Health Authority, is harmful to the First Nations Health Authority’s computer systems, the First Nations Health Authority reserves the right to take any action as deemed necessary to disinfect the email transmission. The First Nations Health Authority will not be liable for any changes that may occur to the email transmission, including rendering the transmission unreadable, as a result of the disinfecting process. Proponents should note that the First Nations Health Authority’s e-mail system will not accept emails in excess of 7 MB. It is the responsibility of Proponents to ensure that e-mails are of a size that can be received by the First Nations Health Authority and in a format that can be read by the First Nations Health Authority. Proposals received after the Closing Time will not be accepted and will not be considered. The proposal receipt time as recorded at the closing location shall prevail, whether accurate or not.
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The First Nations Health Authority assumes no risk, makes no guarantee, warranty or representation whatsoever and shall have no responsibility or liability whatsoever for and in connection with the working order, functioning or malfunctioning of the First Nations Health Authority’s fax or e-mail system or any computer used in connection with this RFP. 12.4 Amendments to Proposals Proposals may be amended, but any amendment to a Proposal must be made in writing and delivered to the closing location before the Closing Time. 12.5 Questions Questions must be submitted in writing to the Contact Person by the date set out in the Key Date Table. Questions from all responding parties will be consolidated and responses may be generated and shared with all participants who have registered a Notice of Intent. Questions and answers will not amend this RFP. All questions and interaction with FNHA over the course of this proposal selection must be through the Contact Person as follows: NAME: EMAIL:
Sheridan Hall, Contracts Administrator
[email protected]
Information obtained from any other person or source is not official and may not be relied on. No oral conversations will affect or modify the terms of this RFP and may not be relied on by potential proponents. Any attempts to contact any member of the First Nations Health Council or First Nations Health Authority with questions or comments about this project by a submitting participant (or individual(s) with business or personal links to the submitting participant), will be construed as an attempt to seek preferential or biased treatment. The First Nations Health Authority reserves the right to disqualify any related Proposal as a result of such contact. 12.6 Discrepancies, Omissions and Questions Proponents finding discrepancies, omissions, ambiguities, or conflicts in this RFP, or having doubts as to the meaning or intent of any provision, should immediately notify the Contact Person. The Contact Person will review such submissions and, if the First Nations Health Authority determines that an amendment is required to this RFP, the Contact Person will issue an addendum. 12.7 Addenda If the First Nations Health Authority determines that an amendment is required to this RFP, the Contact Person will issue a written addendum to each Proponent who has delivered a Notice of Intent. Each addendum will be incorporated into and become part of the RFP. No amendment of any kind to the RFP is effective unless it is contained in a written addendum issued by the Contact Person.
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13.0 Key Date Table ESTIMATED KEY MILESTONES
DATES
Request for Proposals issued
September 10, 2012
Date potential proponents to notify FNHA of intent to submit a proposal
September 14, 2012
Final date for any questions to be received
September 17, 2012
Final date for any questions to be answered
September 21, 2012
Closing Time
October 5, 2012 at 4:00 PM PDT Proposals received after this time will not be considered and will be returned directly to bidders accordingly.
Short Listed Vendor Interviews
One day interview per vendor to be conducted October 15-19, 2012
RFP decision made
By October 26, 2012
Successful and Unsuccessful Proponents notified
By October 29, 2012
Contract negotiations begin and documents prepared
By November 1, 2012
Letter of Intent signed and Work due to Commence
By November 1, 2012
Contract Negotiations Concluded
No later than January 2, 2013
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14.0 Evaluation and Selection 14.1 Evaluation Committee The evaluation of Proposals will be undertaken on behalf of the First Nations Health Authority by an evaluation committee (the “Evaluation Committee”) appointed by the First Nations Health Authority. The Evaluation Committee may consult with others as the Evaluation Committee may in its discretion decide is required; including First Nations Health Authority staff members and third party consultants. The Evaluation Committee will give a recommendation for the selection of a Preferred Proponent or Preferred Proponents to the First Nations Health Authority. 14.2 Evaluation Criteria The Evaluation Committee will compare and evaluate Proposals to determine the Proposal which is most advantageous to the First Nations Health Authority, using the following criteria: (a)
the approach and methodology the Proponent would employ to perform the Services;
(b)
the qualifications and experience of the Proponent and its key personnel;
(c)
the Proponent’s service capabilities;
(d)
the Proponents’ ability to meet the Functional and Technical Requirements of the Project and the Project Goals; and
(e)
the overall quality of the Response, including completeness and compliance to requested format.
14.3 Evaluation Scoring The Evaluation Committee may apply the evaluation criteria on a comparative basis, evaluating the Proposals by comparing one Proponent’s Proposal to another Proponent’s Proposal. All responses must meet/work within the Regulatory and Security Environments described herein to be considered. Once these requirements are met, Responses will be evaluated as follows: Approach
Experience
Technical
Functional
Financial Total
Proposed approach, methodology, project plan to complete stated deliverables
0.15
Past projects completed with similar/related work (including work with BC First Nations, BC Health Authorities, major Financial, HRIS and Payroll Implementation projects) Technical soundness of the solution including employment of industry standard technology and ability to work within the Technical Environment Proposed solution alignment with Functional Requirements and Project Goals. Degree to which the solution is integrated across the various functional modules (Finance, HR, Time, Payroll, ATS) Financial impacts of Responses, both for Implementation and Ongoing
0.15
0.20
0.25 0.25 1.00
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‘Value Added’ components will be taken into consideration; Proponents are invited to provide additional project value adds above and beyond the described project requirements and scope. 14.4 Additional Information The Evaluation Committee may, at its discretion, request clarifications or additional information from a Proponent with respect to its Proposal, and the Evaluation Committee may make such requests to only selected Proponents. The Evaluation Committee may consider such clarifications or additional information in evaluating Proposals. 14.5 Interviews The Evaluation Committee may, at its discretion, invite some or all of the Proponents to appear before the Evaluation Committee to provide clarifications of their Proposals. In such event, the Evaluation Committee will be entitled to consider the answers received in evaluating Proposals. 14.6 Conflict of Interest The First Nations Health Authority retains the discretion to reject a Proposal from a Proponent whose current or past corporate or other interests may, in the opinion of the First Nations Health Authority, give rise to a conflict of interest in connection with this RFP or the Services, or a Proposal from a Proponent who proposes to sub-contract or partner with any firm or individual whose current or past corporate or other interests may, in the opinion of the First Nations Health Authority, give rise to a conflict of interest in connection with this RFP or the Services. A conflict of interest will include, but not be limited to, the involvement of the relevant person in the preparation of this RFP. If a Proponent is in doubt as to whether there is a conflict of interest, the Proponent should consult the Contact Person prior to submitting a Proposal. 14.7 Contract Negotiation and Award Following the evaluation and recommendation of the Evaluation Committee, the First Nations Health Authority may select one or more Proponents to enter into negotiations for a Contract or Contracts as follows: (a)
the First Nations Health Authority may elect to divide the Services into more than one Contract and enter into negotiations with a Proponent with respect to a portion of the Services, and award more than one Contract with respect to the Services;
(b)
Proponents are asked to include a form of Contract with their Proposals. However, the First Nations Health Authority may negotiate modifications or variations to the Proponent’s Proposal (including pricing and the form of Contract) and to the Services, specifications and contract terms, and award of a Contract is in all cases conditional on the Proponent executing a Contract with terms and conditions acceptable to the First Nations Health Authority;
(c)
if negotiations with any Proponent are not successful within such time period as the First Nations Health Authority may require, the First Nations Health Authority may at any time after the expiry of such time period discontinue further negotiation with that Proponent by written notice to the Proponent, and the First Nations Health Authority may at any time thereafter commence negotiations with another Proponent to finalize a Contract in accordance with the foregoing process with another Proponent. The foregoing process may be undertaken and/or repeated until either a Contract or Contracts are awarded by the First Nations Health Authority or until negotiations have been terminated by the First Nations Health Authority.
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14.8 Good Faith Negotiations By submission of its Proposal, the Proponent agrees that should it be determined to be a party with whom the First Nations Health Authority wishes to negotiate a Contract, the Proponent will negotiate in good faith to enter into a Contract in accordance with the procedures described in this RFP. 14.9 Period of Offer As at the Closing Time, each Proposal is irrevocable and will remain open as a basis for negotiating a Contract in accordance with the terms of this RFP for a period of three months from the Closing Time. 14.10 Debriefing After a Contract (or Contracts) are awarded to one or more successful Proponent(s), unsuccessful Proponents may request a debriefing at which the First Nations Health Authority will generally explain why the unsuccessful Proposal was not selected. If a Proponent requests a debriefing: (a)
the debriefing will be solely between the First Nations Health Authority and the Proponent requesting the debriefing;
(b)
the debriefing will not include disclosure of any other Proponent’s Proposal; and
(c)
all terms of this RFP will apply to the debriefing including, for certainty, the requirement that Proponents will treat all information received at a debriefing as confidential.
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15.0 General Terms and Conditions 15.1 Right of the First Nations Health Authority to Reject Proposals and Cancel RFP The First Nations Health Authority is not bound to select a preferred Proponent or accept any Proposal and reserves the right in its sole discretion to postpone or cancel this RFP at any time for any reason whatsoever in accordance with the First Nations Health Authority’s judgment of its best interests and to proceed with the Services in some other manner separate from this RFP. Without limiting the foregoing, the First Nations Health Authority will not be bound to accept the lowest-priced Proposal. The First Nations Health Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any Proposal in whole or in part. 15.2 Waiver of Deficiencies If a Proponent submits a Proposal which does not satisfy every request or requirement as described in this RFP, the First Nations Health Authority at its sole discretion may, but is not required to waive such deficiency, may seek clarification or additional information from the Proponent, and may consider and treat the Proposal as compliant with the requirements of this RFP. 15.3 Proponent’s Expenses Proponents are solely responsible for their own costs and expenses in relation to this RFP and, including preparing and submitting a Proposal, attending information meetings with the First Nations Health Authority if applicable, attending interviews or meetings with the First Nations Health Authority during the evaluation of Proposals, and negotiation, finalization and execution of a Contract with the First Nations Health Authority if the Proponent is requested to negotiate a Contract. 15.4 Limitation of Liability By submitting a Proposal a Proponent expressly acknowledges and agrees that: (a)
the First Nations Health Authority, and its respective employees, contractors, consultants and agents, will not under any circumstances, including without limitation, whether pursuant to contract, tort, statutory duty, law, equity, any actual or implied duty of fairness, or otherwise, be responsible or liable for any costs, expenses, claims, losses, damages or liabilities (collectively and individually all of the foregoing referred to as “Claims”) incurred or suffered by any Proponent as a result of or related to the RFP, the preparation of a Proposal, the evaluation of Proposals, acceptance or rejection of any compliant or non-compliant Proposal, breach of any obligations arising under this RFP, negotiations for a Contract or the cancellation, suspension or termination of the RFP process;
(b)
the Proponent will be conclusively deemed to waive and release the First Nations Health Authority and its employees, contractors, consultants and agents, from and against any and all such Claims; and
(c)
the Proponent will indemnify and hold the First Nations Health Authority and its employees, contractors, consultants and agents harmless against any and all Claims brought against them by third parties arising out of or relating to the Proponent’s receipt of this RFP, or the preparation and negotiation of any Proposal submitted by the Proponent, where such third parties were directly or indirectly engaged by or through the Proponent in connection with any of the foregoing.
15.5 Liability for Errors
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While the First Nations Health Authority has attempted to ensure an accurate presentation of information in this RFP, the information contained in this RFP is supplied solely as a guideline for all Proponents. The information is not guaranteed or warranted to be accurate by the First Nations Health Authority, nor is it necessarily comprehensive or exhaustive. Nothing in this RFP is intended to relieve all Proponents from forming their own opinions and conclusions with respect to the matters addressed in this RFP. 15.6 Confidentiality Proposals will be treated in confidence. The First Nations Health Authority will not release to the public any specific information regarding any Proposal except as may be required by law. Proponents will treat all information received through the RFP process as confidential. All data collected in support of this project, regardless if they are reproduced or referred to in the final, interim reports or communication (written or verbal), between the respondent and FNHC/FNHA personnel and all First Nation People shall be the sole property of the First Nations Health Authority. All notes, diagrams, and information in any electronic media must be returned to the First Nations Health Authority. Duplicates or replications of these contents in any form must be destroyed. A Certification of Destruction will be required on the conclusion of this engagement. Any report, its contents and all information described in the Service Description will be considered confidential, proprietary, intellectual Property of the First Nations Health Authority. 15.7 Ownership of Proposals All Proposals submitted become the property of the First Nations Health Authority. 15.8 Working Language The working language of the First Nations Health Authority is English and all Proposals must be in English.
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16.0 Defined Terms In this RFP the following definitions apply: “Closing Time” means the date and time set out in the Key Dates Table. “Contact Person” means the person identified as such in this RFP. “Contract” means a formal written agreement between the successful Proponent and the First Nations Health Authority for performance of the Services. “Contractor” means a Proponent that enters into a Contract. “Evaluation Committee” means the committee appointed by the First Nations Health Authority to evaluate Proposals. “FNHC”, “the Council” or “the Health Council” means the First Nations Health Council. “FNHS” or “the Society” means the First Nations Health Society. “Key Date Table” means the table of that name included in this RFP. “Notice of Intent” means a notice submitted by a potential proponent of its intent to submit a Proposal. “Proponent” means an entity that submits a Proposal. “Proposal” means a proposal submitted in response to this RFP. “RFP” means this request for proposals.
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