Opportunity Overview
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service is conducting market research for Regulated Medical Waste and Pharmaceutical Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal Services at the Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Health Center (DZHC) in Bloomfield, New Mexico. IHS posted two parallel Sources Sought notices for the same underlying requirement: IHS1526164_DZHC for Indian Economic Enterprises (IEEs) and Indian Small Business Economic Enterprises (ISBEEs), and IHS1526164_DZHC_SB for qualified small businesses. These notices are market research only and are not requests for proposals, quotations, or bids.
Response Deadline
Both notices report responses due September 15, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTC, equivalent to 1:00 PM Mountain Daylight Time and 3:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Respondents should verify the live SAM.gov notice immediately before submission.
Scope and Anticipated Performance
The contemplated contractor would furnish labor, equipment, materials, supplies, transportation, treatment, and disposal for regulated/infectious medical waste and pharmaceutical hazardous waste, including applicable RCRA and non-RCRA waste. Regulated medical waste pickup is described as biweekly; chemo trace waste and hazardous pharmaceutical waste pickups would occur as requested, with no more than three pickups per year for each category. Vehicles and containers must be properly maintained, and the contractor must hold all required federal, state, tribal, and local permits, licenses, registrations, and authorizations. The anticipated structure is a 12-month base period plus four one-year options.
Eligibility and Response Requirements
For IHS1526164_DZHC, IHS is seeking qualified IEEs and ISBEEs under the Buy Indian Act. Respondents must include a completed and signed IHS Buy Indian Act Indian Economic Enterprise Representation Form. For the parallel IHS1526164_DZHC_SB notice, IHS is seeking qualified small businesses under NAICS 562211 — Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal, PSC S299.
The capability statement is limited to five pages and should document business information, UEI and socioeconomic/ownership status as applicable, relevant technical capability, at least two similar projects completed within the prior three years with contract/project and customer reference information, self-performance information, and intent to submit a future quote as a prime contractor. The small-business notice states that, if the acquisition is set aside, the contractor would need to self-perform at least 50 percent of contract costs excluding materials.
Funding / Cost Share
No contract ceiling or estimated award value is stated in the public Sources Sought materials reviewed by Atlas. Match or cost share is not applicable because this is federal acquisition market research rather than a grant.
Contacts and Submission
Public notice records identify Deborah Blyveis at deborah.blyveis@hhs.gov as the primary contact and Daniel Weingarten at daniel.weingarten@hhs.gov as the secondary contact. Capability statements are submitted by email under the applicable notice instructions.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 38/100. The requirement is relevant to healthcare-facility operations in New Mexico, but it is narrowly specialized hazardous-waste work and remains only a Sources Sought market-research phase.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. There is no legitimate remote physical-examination or Nonagon N9+ use case in this waste-collection and disposal requirement.
Direct-vendor disposition: No Bid. Dr. Miltie/QC Healthcare should not respond as a direct vendor absent independently verified NAICS-aligned hazardous-waste capability, permits, compliant disposal infrastructure, qualifying recent past performance, and applicable small-business or IEE/ISBEE status. A realistic market-screening candidate is American Wholesale Solutions, which received a 2025 IHS ISBEE award for regulated medical waste collection and disposal at Northern Navajo Medical Center, subject to current eligibility and capability verification for this requirement.
Official Sources
SAM.gov — IHS1526164_DZHC (Buy Indian)
SAM.gov — IHS1526164_DZHC_SB (Total Small Business)