U.S. General Services Administration
GSA Transfers Needed Medical Equipment from the Veterans Administration to the U.S. State Department
When people think of the General Services Administration (GSA) they know us as the Public Buildings Service (PBS) for being the federal government’s landlord or as the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) for our contracts to deliver goods and services to federal, state and local governments. But GSA’s mission to deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government is vast and varied and covers more than many would expect. In fact, GSA’s Personal Property Management Division (PPM) does a lot of unique work in their role to assist federal agencies in the disposal of personal property they no longer need.
Recently the PPM in GSA’s Southwest Central Zone transferred needed medical equipment from the Michael E Debakey Veteran’s Administration (VA) in Houston, Texas, to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. The exchange of over 100 boxes of disposable instruments for the da Vinci Si Dual Console Simulator provided cost savings of over $1.1M to the State Department’s FY 20 budget. Additionally, the VA was able to reduce the handling cost of supplies and regained warehouse space needed for other equipment. The GSA facilitated transfer was a win-win for the VA and the State Department and also provided cost savings to the American taxpayer.
The da Vinci Si Dual Console Simulator is a robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery device and is often taught with the surgical mentor at the surgeon console and the trainee at the patient’s bedside. It allows a surgical mentor to teach with both the mentor and the trainee working at a surgeon console simultaneously.