Booz Allen’s protest of $98M Veterans Affairs award denied
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By
Nick Wakeman
Guidehouse now has a clear path to start work on the Veterans Facility Transformation initiative.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s attempt to derail a $98 million Veterans Affairs Department award that went to Guidehouse has fallen flat.
The Government Accountability Office denied Booz Allen’s protest on Tuesday. The company objected to how proposals were evaluated and the best-value decision the agency made.
Details of the denial are still under wraps, but the GAO decision clears the way for Guidehouse to begin work on the Veteran Facility Transformation and Healthcare Enhancement initiative.
Because this is a blanket purchase agreement, Booz Allen cannot go beyond GAO with its protest.
Guidehouse will provide advisory services such as market assessments, data management, planning, stakeholder management and program management to VA. The department wants to optimize how it delivers health care services.
Guidehouse first won the contract in September 2023 and faced a protest by Deloitte. VA took a corrective action and pulled the award back to take a second look. In April, VA again awarded the contract to Guidehouse.
But this time, Booz Allen filed its protest. Deloitte did not protest again.
GAO's decision is currently sealed as Guidehouse, Booz Allen and VA hash out a public version. We’ll write an update once the decision is available.