J--DA VINCE SURGICAL ROBOT

Under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 (Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements), the Washington, D.C. Department of Veterans Affairs medical Center (DC VAMC) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Intuitive Surgical, Inc.. Emergency service is needed to establish a service contract with a vendor to maintain a Da Vinci Surgical Robot located at the Department of Veterans Affairs located at the Washington, DC medical Center. The service contractor will provide parts and labor for breakdown maintenance, preventive maintenance, software enhancement, live phone support, and parts exchange as needed. This piece of equipment cannot be serviced in house. A breakdown of any type for this piece of equipment would paralyze and delay patient surgical procedures. The VA provides services for patients with specialize needs that would disrupt their lives to travel to other VA facilities and a disruption for the receiving VA facility to accommodate our patients. The proposed contractor is the only original equipment manufacturer and maintenance provider that is authorized to install certified original manufacturer parts for the Da Vinci Surgical Robot. This is a notice of intent and is not for competitive proposals. It is not a solicitation of a request for offers. No solicitation package is available. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the government. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses must be received no later than June 28, 2011 @ 2:00 PM. Local time. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. The mailing address for the Contracting Officer is Veterans Affairs Medical Center, VISN 5 Contract Satellite Office (90C), 50 Irving Street NW, Room BH-135, Washington, DC 20422, Attn: Robert Perry.