4110--Salt Lake City Patient Fridge Freezers

The Department of Veterans Affairs, through Network Contracting Office 19 in Greenwood Village, Colorado, is conducting market research to procure nine commercial-grade refrigerator/freezer units for the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center located at 500 Foothill Blvd, Salt Lake City, UT 84148. The equipment is intended to replace failing residential-grade units in patient nursing wards, ensuring compliance with food safety standards for inpatient nutrition services. The units must be identical in design, featuring stainless steel interiors and exteriors, epoxy-coated adjustable shelves, LED lighting, dual independent refrigeration systems, and digital temperature controls maintaining refrigerator temperatures between 33–38°F and freezer temperatures between 0–10°F. Six units must have right-hinged doors and three left-hinged, with all units meeting strict dimensional limits of no more than 28 inches wide by 80 inches high by 35 inches deep and equipped with four casters, two of which must lock. Units must use environmentally friendly refrigerants such as R290, and all must carry a minimum five-year warranty covering parts, labor, and the condenser. Respondents must submit proposals no longer than eight pages via email to Contracting Officer Kenneth Finchum by 8:00 AM MST on May 19, 2026, and are required to address multiple Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses including the Nonmanufacturer Rule, Limitations on Subcontracting, and Buy American Act requirements, providing detailed disclosures on manufacturing status, employee count, subcontracting percentages, and domestic content of end products. The solicitation references Hoshizaki Model DT1A-HS as the desired unit but does not mandate it exclusively. Proprietary information must be clearly marked. No formal evaluation factors, pricing, award methodology, or delivery schedule have been established since this is a Sources Sought notice, not a competitive solicitation. No packaging, preservation, or labeling standards beyond proprietary markings and basic product identification are specified; all compliance is expected to adhere to commercial healthcare-grade norms. The government will inspect and accept the equipment at the delivery site, and responses must include UEI and size certification details, though no offerors have yet submitted completed responses. Funding is not tied to Recovery Act dollars, and no contract type has been formally awarded, though firm-fixed price is anticipated.