VA Laundry Service: Consolidations and Competitive Sourcing Could Save Millions
Abstract
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates 67 laundries that serve more than 36,000 inpatients a day in its hospitals, nursing homes, and domiciliaries. In fiscal year 1999, VA spent about $52 million to process more than 166 million pounds of laundry. Most of these expenditures are for the cost of labor of approximately 1,100 employees who sort, wash, dry, fold, iron, and transport laundry for 177 inpatient locations. As agreed with your office, we assessed major initiatives VA has taken to reduce inpatient laundry service costs by (1) consolidating laundry workloads and (2) competitively sourcing to determine if it is more cost effective to use VA-owned and -operated laundries or to contract with the private sector. We assessed the extent to which these initiatives have reduced costs for some inpatient locations and what additional savings may be possible if they are implemented in other locations. We conducted a nationwide survey to obtain data on operating practices from all of VAs laundries for fiscal year 1999. We also obtained data from all locations that were consolidated or used competitive sourcing in fiscal year 1999. We interviewed VA headquarters officials, local VA officials, and private-sector laundry companies. We conducted site visits to locations that had consolidated or used competitive sourcing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA385189
Entities
People
- Deborah L. Edwards
- Jean N. Harker
- Michael L. Gorin
- Paul R. Reynolds
- Stephen P. Backhus
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office