[Protests of VA Contract Awards for Hospital Vendor Services]

A firm protested two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contract awards for hospital vendor services, contending that VA: (1) misapplied the technical evaluation criteria; (2) improperly evaluated bids; and (3) failed to make award to the low bidder. GAO held that VA improperly: (1) used flawed evaluation criteria, since bids that did not comply with solicitation requirements received maximum scores; (2) evaluated bids, since price differences received little weight; and (3) awarded contracts to higher bidders. Accordingly, the protests were sustained, and GAO recommended that VA: (1) reevaluate the bids; and (2) reimburse the protester for its protest costs.