SAM #HT9427-27-RFI-0001

DHA Market Research for Offsite Sterile Processing Support at Military Treatment Facilities

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is seeking industry input on offsite sterile processing services for military treatment facilities; this is market research, not a solicitation. - Potential scope: Transport surgical instruments to and from offsite facilities; decontaminate, assemble, and sterilize them; and provide qualified staff, facilities, equipment, inventory checks, and quality-control verification. - DHA estimates a potential need of approximately 2,000 trays sterilized monthly at each MTF. This is an estimate in the RFI, not a guaranteed order quantity. - Respondents are asked about service capacity, locations served, equipment and sterilization systems, pricing factors, volume discounts, barriers to service, and how lost or missing client instruments are tracked and settled. - Potential instrument workload: Minimally invasive surgery cases and peel packs, dental trays, power equipment, D&C hysteroscopy, major basic sets, ENT and airway instruments, abdominal hysterectomy sets, weighted speculums, and Da Vinci accessories. Arthrex shoulder-repair sets and Arthrex and Stryker arthroscopy instruments are specifically identified. - Potential locations: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Naval Postgraduate Dental School clinics; Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center; Naval Medical Center Portsmouth; Womack Army Medical Center; Evans Army Community Hospital; Brooke Army Medical Center; Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Clinic; Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center; William Beaumont Army Medical Center; the 99th Medical Group at Nellis Air Force Base; Naval Medical Center San Diego; the 60th Medical Group at Travis Air Force Base; Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord; and Tripler Army Medical Center. - Six locations are designated as critical and require uninterrupted support: Winn, Martin, and Irwin Army Community Hospitals; Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune; Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton; and the 10th Medical Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy. - Response requirements: Submit a capability statement describing relevant experience and how the work would be performed, and answer the attached questions. Responses should be PDFs, use 12-point font, and stay within 10 pages, excluding cover and administrative pages. - Procurement status: DHA, through the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity (DHACA), Medical Research and Development Contracting Division 2, is conducting market research only. No award will result from this RFI, and the small-business set-aside decision has not been made. Small businesses and designated socioeconomic categories are encouraged to participate.

Description

Request for Information (RFI)

Defense Health Agency (DHA) Sterile Processing (SP) Offsite Support

1.0  DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a Request for Quotations (RFQ). It is strictly a Request for Information (RFI) and should not be construed as a formal solicitation nor an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kinds of offers will be considered in response to this RFI, and no contract will be awarded pursuant to this announcement. The information requested by this RFI will be used within DHA to facilitate decision making and will not be disclosed outside of DHA. Any information provided to the Government is strictly voluntary and will be provided at no cost to the Government.

2.0   SUBJECT: The Medical Research and Development Contracting Division 2, Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity (DHACA), is seeking information in the form of capabilities statements and availability. This RFI is for fact-finding and planning purposes only. The information will be used in conducting market research to identify qualified, experienced, and interested potential business sources in support of the Government’s requirements outlined in this RFI, which are subject to change prior to a formal solicitation release. The Government reserves the right to decide whether a small business set-aside is appropriate based on responses to this notice. Contractors are encouraged to inform the Government of any barriers that would prohibit them from competing. Contact with Government personnel, other than those specified in the RFI, by potential offerors or their employees regarding this requirement is not permitted.

3.0 BACKGROUND: The DHA is conducting a Business Case Analysis to identify alternatives to on-site surgical instrument sterilization for Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) across eight (8) of the nine (9) networks. For more information on the DHA organizational structure see the following link: https://www.dha.mil/Offices-and-Programs/Defense-Health-Networks

Sterile processing supports all operating room functions as well as multiple military treatment centers throughout the DHA networks. Sterile Processing Departments (SPD)  are the backbone surgical instrument sterilization for MTFs. When SPDs are unusable because of onsite equipment failure, operating room and clinic procedures decrease by greater than 90%, essentially halting the surgical capability of the MTFs. The cessation of surgical cases results in decreased provider readiness, risk of Graduate Medical Education (GME) citation, and severely impacted healthcare delivery. To continue to provide uninterrupted healthcare, the DHA is considering outsourcing a portion SPD service throughout MTFs for service resilience and workload SPD stability.  SPD services considered will occur at the contractor’s offsite SPD locations. All companies offering SPD offsite services including healthcare companies and hospitals with capacity to assist with offsite/remote SPD services are encouraged to provide an RFI response.

List of equipment to be sterilized may include but is not limited to the following list:

•     Minimally Invasive Surgical (MIS) Cases (e.g., Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS), ankle procedures, Sonicision, and punches)

•     MIS Peel Packs (including dental instrument trays)

•     All Power Equipment (drills and batteries)

•     D&C Hysteroscopy

•     Major Basic Sets

•      Micro-Laryngeal Instruments (ENT)

•      ENT General Airway Sets

•      Arthrex Arthroscopy Shoulder Repair Sets

•      Arthroscopy Instruments (Arthrex and Stryker)

•      Abdominal Hysterectomy

•      Weighted Speculums

•      Da Vinci Accessories

The DHA is seeking industry feedback on contractor’s capabilities to provide offsite sterile processing in support of the following MTFs:

•     Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD (including Naval Postgraduate Dental School and WRNMMC clinics)

•     Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir, VA

•     Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth VA

•     Womack Army Medical Center (AMC), Fort Bragg, NC

•     Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, CO

•     Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), JBSA Fort Sam Houston, TX

•     59th Medical Wing Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical (WHASC), Lackland, TX

•     Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center (AMC), Fort Cavazos, TX

•     William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC), Fort Bliss, TX

•     99th Medical Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas NV

•     Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), San Diego, CA

•     60th Medical Group Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, CA

•     Army Medical Center (AMC) Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Tacoma WA

•     Tripler Army Medical Center (AMC), Honolulu, HI.

Critical (no interruptions) locations   

Winn Army Community Hospital Fort Stewart, GA Martin Army Community Hospital Fort Benning, GA Irwin Army Community Hospital Fort Riley, KS Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, NC Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, CA 10th Medical Group, United States Air Force Academy, CO

4.0 SCOPE: The Medical Research and Development Contracting Division 2, DHACA, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to identify Contractors capable of meeting the Government’s requirement.  The Government requests a Capability Statement providing the following:

1. General information and technical background describing your firm’s experience in providing similar Sterile Processing (SP) Offsite Support within the last five years, specifically with contracts similar in scope, complexity, and size to meet the program objectives in accordance with this RFI.

2. In your capability statement, address how you would deliver/implement the specific tasks outlined in this RFI.

Transportation of surgical instruments between MTFs and offsite facilities. Complete sterile processing services including decontamination, assembly, and sterilization. Personnel to perform the above process. Sterile Processing Facilities Sterile Processing Equipment Inventory Verification Quality Control Verification

In your response, please answer the questions on Attachment.

5.0 SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDE: The Government has not determined the set-aside capability, if possible, at this time. The Government will use the RFI results in analyzing small businesses’ capacity to perform this requirement and make its decision.

6.0 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS: Please submit a Capability Statement and complete the attachment in “.pdf” file type via email to Medical Research and Development Contracting Division 2, DHACA, Contract Specialist Mr.  David Daniel david.r.daniel27.civ@health.mil. The subject line of the email should be: “Sterile Processing (SP) Offsite Support – RFI Response.”  A vendor responding to this RFI with generic material only, such as brochures, advertisements, or other generic material, is highly discouraged.

Maximum participation by small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small-disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns is encouraged. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Parties may begin submitting responses to this request for information immediately. If the information provided contains propriety information, such information must be clearly identified with appropriate disclaimers. 

All Contractor questions are due NLT 06 October 2026. The Government retains the right to  respond to some or all of the questions and group similar questions for a single response.

Due date: RFI response submissions are due no later than 11:00 AM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Daylight Time, New York, USA on 30 October 2026.

Page Limit: RFI responses shall be limited to 10 pages, not including cover and administrative pages, and shall written using a 12-point font size.

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. Additional Links:DHA Health NetworksDefense Health Agency URL

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