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B-181125 1 (1974-07-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaemd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: RELEASED is .l COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES 7 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 B-181125 JUL 2 5 1974 Oq21Toe~ The Honorable John H. Ware House of Representatives Dear Mr. Ware: On April 20, 1974, you requested that we review a matter brought to your attention by Mr. Allen M. Rubin concerning a procurement of dental chairs by the Big Valley Area Medical Center, Belleville, Pennsylvania,' . Mr. Rubin's letter stated that in February 1974 the Center issued an order for purchasing dental equipment- -including four Virginia dental chairs for which Mr. Rubin is the company representative-- to A. Leventhal & Sons Inc., Scranton. According to Mr. Rubin, this order was subsequently changed to include four Ritter dental chairs in place of the Virginia chairs, at an additional cost of be- tween $400 and $500 for each chair, or a total increase of about $1, 700. Mr. Rubin further stated that he had discussed the procurement with Mr. G. A. Cornelius, the Administrator of the Center, but could not obtain a satisfactory explanation for the change. We have reviewed the matter and have discussed the procure- ment with the Administrator and with officials of the Department of , Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) regional office in Philadelphia. J This letter summarizes the information we obtained. The Center was awarded a grant for operating a demonstration health project under section 202 of the Appalachian Regional Develop- ment Act of 1965 (40 U.S.C. App. 202). Under this grant, the Center informally requested proposals for miscellaneous dental equipment from three suppliers, which were furnished a list of dental equipment and a floor plan of the Center's dental area for use in preparing their proposals. A fourth supplier, which was not originally solicited, requested and received permission to submit a proposal. The Administrator said the equipment list, which called for Virginia dental chairs, was merely a guideline to satisfy HEW require- ments for grantees. The list was prepared with the assistance of a dental equipment supplier on a fee basis and a local dentist who was then.being considered for employment by the Center. The Administrator further informed us that suppliers were not required to restrict their proposals to the items shown on the equip- ment list but were free to substitute items which they believed would best serve the Center's needs. Since this was not an advertised pro- curement, suppliers were not advised of changes in items on the list. The Center's procurement file tended to support these statements. For example, one supplier stated in its proposal that it realized that

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