Exhibit 10.9a

                                SEVENTH AMENDMENT
                                     TO THE
                             PSS WORLD MEDICAL, INC.
                    EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP AND SAVINGS PLAN

     This  Seventh  Amendment  to the PSS World  Medical,  Inc.  Employee  Stock
Ownership and Savings Plan is adopted by PSS World Medical, Inc. (the "Company")
and, except as otherwise provided herein, is effective as of January 1, 2002.

     This  amendment  shall  supersede the  provisions of the plan to the extent
those provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of this amendment.


                              W I T N E S S E T H:

     WHEREAS,  the Company has previously  adopted the PSS World  Medical,  Inc.
Employee Stock  Ownership and Savings Plan,  which has been amended from time to
time (as amended, the "Plan"); and

     WHEREAS, the Company is authorized and empowered to further amend the Plan;
and

     WHEREAS,  the Company has  determined  that it is advisable and in the best
interests of the  participants  to amend the Plan as good faith  compliance with
the  requirements  of EGTRRA for Plan Years  beginning on or after  December 31,
2001, and to make other desired changes.

     NOW, THEREFORE, the Plan is hereby amended as follows:

                                       I.

     Effective April 1, 2002, Section 1.13(c) of Article 1 of the Plan is hereby
deleted.

                                       II.

     Effective April 1, 2002, Section 1.13(d) of the Plan is hereby redesignated
as  1.13(c)  and  shall  read  in  its  entirety  as  follows:

          (c) The annual  Compensation of each Participant taken into account in
          determining allocations for any Plan Year beginning after December 31,
          2001, shall not exceed $200,000.00, as adjusted for the cost-of-living
          increases in accordance with Section 401(a)(17)(B) of the Code. Annual
          Compensation  means  Compensation  during  the Plan Year or such other
          consecutive  12-month  period  over which  Compensation  is  otherwise
          determined under the Plan. The cost-of-living adjustment in effect for
          a calendar year applies to annual  Compensation for the  determination
          period that begins with or within such calendar year.


<PAGE>

                                      III.

     Section 1.23 of the Plan is hereby  amended by adding the  following at the
end of the existing provision set forth therein:

         An Eligible Retirement Plan shall also mean an annuity contract
         described in Section 403(b) of the Code and an eligible plan under
         Section 457(b) of the Code which is maintained by a state, political
         subdivision of a state, or any agency or instrumentality of a state or
         political subdivision of a state and which agrees to separately account
         for amounts transferred into such plan from this Plan. The definition
         of Eligible Retirement Plan shall also apply in the case of a
         distribution to a surviving spouse, or to a spouse or former spouse who
         is the alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, as
         defined in Section 414(p) of the Code.


                                       IV.

     Section  1.24(d)  of the  Plan  is  hereby  deleted  and the  following  is
substituted in lieu thereof:

          (d) Any hardship distribution or hardship withdrawal.


                                       V.

     Effective April 1, 2002, Section 1.44 is hereby amended to read as follows:

          "Key Employee"  means,  for Plan Years  beginning on or after April 1,
     2002, any Employee or former employee (including any deceased employee) who
     at any time during the Plan Year that includes the  determination  date was
     an officer of the Employer having annual Compensation greater than $130,000
     (as adjusted under Section  416(i)(1) of the Code for Plan Years  beginning
     after December 31, 2001), a 5-percent owner of the Employer, or a 1-percent
     owner of the Employer having annual Compensation of more than $150,000. For
     this purpose,  annual Compensation means Compensation within the meaning of
     Section  415(c)(3) of the Code. The  determination of who is a Key Employee
     will be made in  accordance  with  Section  416(i)(1)  of the  Code and the
     applicable  regulations and other guidance of general  applicability issued
     thereunder.

                                       VI.

          Effective  January 18,  2002,  the  introductory  paragraph of Section
     6.1(a) is amended to read as follows:
<PAGE>

          Each  Employer  shall  contribute  to the  Trust,  on  behalf  of each
     Participant,  an Elective  Contribution as specified in a salary  reduction
     agreement (if any) between the  Participant  and such Employer  under which
     the Participant  elects,  pursuant to the terms of this Plan, to reduce the
     compensation  otherwise  payable  to  him  by an  amount  allocable  to his
     Elective  Contributions Account;  provided,  however, that each Participant
     who has  elected  prior to  January  18,  2002 to reduce  the  compensation
     otherwise  payable  to him by a  specified  dollar  amount and who does not
     affirmatively  elect  to have a  specific  percentage  of his  compensation
     contributed  to the Plan as an  Elective  Contribution,  shall be deemed to
     have elected to defer one (1) percent of his compensation to the Plan as an
     Elective Contribution.

          VII. Effective April 1, 2002, Section 6.1(b) of Article VI of the Plan
     is hereby amended to read, in its entirety,  as follows: (b) No Participant
     shall be permitted to have Elective  Contributions  made under this Plan in
     excess of the lesser of the dollar  limitation  contained in Section 402(g)
     of the Code in effect for any calendar year, except to the extent permitted
     under  section XI of this  amendment  and  Section  414(v) of the Code,  if
     applicable,  or, for Plan Years beginning on or after April 1, 2002, 85% of
     the Participant's  Compensation for the Plan Year. The minimum contribution
     made on behalf of a Participant  electing to make an Elective  Contribution
     pursuant  to  this  section  6.1  for  any  Plan  Year  shall  be 1% of his
     Compensation.

                                      VIII.

          Effective  April 1, 2002,  Section 6.1(g) of Article VI of the Plan is
     hereby  deleted in its entirety and the  following is  substituted  in lieu
     thereof:  (g) In the event that a Participant  receives a withdrawal of his
     Elective Contributions pursuant to section 10.1, such Participant shall not
     be permitted to make any further Elective Contributions pursuant to section
     6.1(a)  for a period  of 6 months  following  the date of such  withdrawal.
     After the completion of the 6 month period,  the  Participant may reinstate
     Elective Contributions in accordance with the provisions of section 6.1(f).
     Additionally,  Participants who receive a hardship  distribution in 2001 or
     thereafter  will no longer have the amount of Elective  Contributions  they
     may make in the year following the year in which they received the hardship
     distribution  reduced by the amount of Elective  Contributions they made in
     the year in which they received the hardship distribution.

                                       IX.

          The  multiple  use  test  described  in  Treasury  Regulation  section
     1.401(m)-2  and  Section  6.6(c) of the Plan shall not apply for Plan Years
     beginning after December 31, 2001.

<PAGE>

                                       X.

          Effective  January 1, 2002,  Section  6.8 of Article VI of the Plan is
     hereby  amended by adding the  following  sentence  to the end of  existing
     provision therein:

          Effective January 1, 2002, the Plan will accept  Participant  rollover
     contributions and direct rollovers of distributions made after December 31,
     2001,  only from a qualified  plan described in Section 401(a) of the Code,
     excluding after-tax employee contributions.

                                       XI.

          Effective January 1, 2002, Article VI of the Plan is hereby amended by
     adding new section 6.10 to the end thereof:

          6.10  Catch-Up  Contributions.  All Employees who are eligible to make
     elective  deferrals under this Plan and who have attained age 50 before the
     close of the Plan Year shall be eligible to make catch-up  contributions in
     accordance  with, and subject to the  limitations of, Section 414(v) of the
     Code.  Such  catch-up  contributions  shall not be taken into  account  for
     purposes of the provisions of the Plan  implementing  the  requirements  of
     Section 401(k)(3),  401(k)(11),  401(k)(12), 410(b), or 416 of the Code, as
     applicable,  by  reason  of the  making  of  such  contributions.  Catch-up
     contributions  shall apply to  contributions  made after December 31, 2001.
     Catch-up  contributions  will not be counted in computing Employer Matching
     Contributions.

                                      XII.

          Effective April 1, 2002, Section 7.7 (a) of Article VII of the Plan is
     hereby  deleted in its entirety and the  following is  substituted  in lieu
     thereof:

          (a) Except to the extent  permitted under section XI of this amendment
     and Section  414(v) of the Code, if applicable,  the Annual  Additions that
     may be contributed or allocated to a  Participant's  Account under the Plan
     and under any other defined contribution plans maintained by an Employer or
     an Affiliate for any Limitation Year shall not exceed the lesser of $40,000
     (or, if greater, the dollar limitation  established by the Secretary of the
     Treasury  pursuant  to  Section  415(d)(1)  of the  Code)  or  100%  of the
     Participant's  Section  415  Compensation  for such  Limitation  Year.  The
     compensation  limit  referred  to shall not apply to any  contribution  for
     medical  benefits  after  separation  from  service  (within the meaning of
     Section  401(h) or  Section  419A(f)(2)  of the Code),  which is  otherwise
     treated as an Annual Addition.

                                      XIII.

               Effective  April 1, 2002,  Section 8.3 (b)(1) of Article  VIII of
          the Plan is  hereby  deleted  in its  entirety  and the  following  is
          substituted in lieu thereof:
<PAGE>

               The vested interest in the Employer Contributions Account and the
          Non-ESOP Matching Contributions Account of each Participant shall be a
          percentage  of the balance of each such  Account as of the  applicable
          Valuation Date, based upon such  Participant's  Years of Service as of
          the date of the severance of his employment, as follows:

      Years of Service                       Non-forfeitable percentage
      Less than 2 Years of Service                      0%
      2 years, but less than 3 years                   20%
      3 years, but less than 4 years                   40%
      4 years, but less than 5 years                   60%
      5 years, but less than 6 years                   80%
      6 years or more                                 100%


                                      XIV.

     1. Determination of top-heavy status effective April 1, 2002.

     1.1  Determination  of present  values and amounts.  This section 1.1 shall
apply for purposes of determining the present values of accrued benefits and the
amounts of account balances of Employees as of the determination date.

     1.1.1  Distributions  during year  ending on the  determination  date.  The
present  values of accrued  benefits  and the amounts of account  balances of an
Employee as of the  determination  date shall be increased by the  distributions
made with respect to the Employee  under the Plan and any plan  aggregated  with
the Plan under Section  416(g)(2) of the Code during the 1-year period ending on
the determination date. The preceding sentence shall also apply to distributions
under a  terminated  plan  which,  had it not been  terminated,  would have been
aggregated with the Plan under Section  416(g)(2)(A)(i) of the Code. In the case
of a distribution  made for a reason other than separation from service,  death,
or disability,  this provision shall be applied by substituting  "5-year period"
for "1-year period."

     1.1.2  Employees  not  performing   services  during  year  ending  on  the
determination  date. The accrued benefits and accounts of any individual who has
not performed  services for the employer  during the 1-year period ending on the
determination date shall not be taken into account.

     2. Minimum benefits.

     Matching contributions. Employer Matching Contributions shall be taken into
account for purposes of  satisfying  the minimum  contribution  requirements  of
Section  416(c)(2) of the Code and the Plan. The preceding  sentence shall apply
with respect to matching  contributions  under the Plan or, if the Plan provides
that the minimum  contribution  requirement  shall be met in another plan,  such
other plan. Employer Matching Contributions that are used to satisfy the minimum
contribution  requirements  shall  be  treated  as  matching  contributions  for
purposes of the actual  contribution  percentage test and other  requirements of
Section 401(m) of the Code.
<PAGE>

                                       XV.

     Effective January 1, 2002, a Participant's vested interest in the
balance of his accounts shall be distributable on account of the Participant's
severance from employment. However, such a distribution shall be subject to the
other provisions of the Plan regarding distributions, other than provisions that
require a separation from service (or severance of service) before such amounts
may be distributed. This section shall apply for distributions after December
31, 2001, regardless of when the severance from employment occurred.

                                      XVI.

     Effective January 1, 2002,  Section  10.1(d)(3) of Article X of the Plan is
hereby amended to read, in its entirety, as follows: The Participant's  elective
contributions  to the Plan or any  qualified or  nonqualified  plans of deferred
compensation  maintained by an Employer are suspended and he is not permitted to
make further  elective  contributions  until the expiration of 6 months from the
date of such withdrawal; and

                                      XVII.

     Effective January 1, 2002, the Participant's  Rollover Contribution Account
shall be excluded in determining the value of the  Participant's  nonforfeitable
account  balance for  purposes of the Plan's  involuntary  cash-out  rules.  The
election shall apply with respect to distributions  made after December 31, 2001
with respect to Participants who sever employment after December 31, 2001.

         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Seventh Amendment is effective as of the dates
set forth hereinabove.

                                 PSS WORLD MEDICAL, INC.


(Corporate Seal)                 By: /s/ David D. Klarner
                                 _____________________________

                                Its:  Vice President of Treasury