Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center, P.O. Box 76, Bldg. 37, Hines, IL 60141-0076

65 -- SOURCES SOUGHT FOR NEW VA MED/SURG PRIME VENDOR PROGRAM DUE 022098 POC June Fitch (708) 786-5174 This Commerce Business Daily Announcement is a request for information only. The Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) has requested that the National Acquisition Center (NAC) develop a new Med/Surg Prime Vendor solicitation. VHA is requesting information on hospital Med/Surg distributors that can be used to aid in the development of this new solicitation. This information will assist in formulating a new Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor Program solicitation; VHA is contemplating if this new Program would be mandatory. The information requested may result in the issuance of a formal solicitation. A questionnaire has been developed that will help determine how many distributors currently serve as prime vendors to hospitals. The information gathered will also help determine how many small businesses (499 employees or less) serve as prime vendors and how many small businesses may be competitive in this new process. The government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notification or otherwise pay for any information received in response to this request. A response to this questionnaire is to be sent back to the National Acquisition Center no later than February 20, 1998. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this questionnaire, and you have access to the internet, you can obtain a copy of the coverletter, the questionnaire, and Attachments "A" and "B" at the following address: http://www.va.gov/oa&;mm/nac/medprod/medsurgqa.htm . If you do not have internet access and you want to obtain a copy, please contact June Fitch at (708) 786-5174. Responses to the questionnaire should be sent via e-mail (if you have this capability) to June Fitch at jfitch@mail.va.gov or fax to the attention of June Fitch at (708) 786-4974. (0041)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0341 19980212\65-0004.SOL)