Dear Dr. Gehrman,

On behalf of Veterinary Economics, it's my pleasure to announce that your hospital has been selected as a Merit Award winner in the 2003 Hospital Design Competition. This year's entries proved extremely competitive. Judges spent two days narrowing the field to 11 finalists. We'll publish an article on each award-winning facility in the March 2003 through February 2004 issues.

As a Merit Award winner, you'll receive these benefits:

• An article about your award-winning facility. We will feature your hospital in October 2003. About two months before the scheduled issue, I will arrange a phone interview. We will fax you a prepublication copy of the article for your approval and provide printed copies of the article upon publication.
  
• An elegant wall plaque to hang in your reception area.
  
• A press release to announce your award to local media, state VMA, and other media.
  

We'll also ask your architect to submit a display board for the "Gallery of Award-Winning Hospitals" at the 2003 Hospital Design Conference in Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 20 to 22.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at (913) 492-4300, ext. 138. We look forward to sharing your inspiring story with our 50,000 readers. Again, congratulations on building an outstanding veterinary hospital.

Sincerely,

Sarah A. Moser
Associate Editor