All institutional and commercial organizations face the challenge of rightsizing their stocks of facilities — whether through building, buying, leasing or selling — to match evolving organizational needs, and the federal government is no different. In the case of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the option of leasing as a way to rightsize its facilities portfolio is gaining greater attention.
The U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently recommended that the VA develop and implement a lessons-learned process to capture information about its use of sole-source leasing with academic affiliates.
The average age of VA hospitals is 60 years, and many facilities need maintenance, according to the VA. To deliver healthcare to veterans while managing its facility issues, the VA can use a non-competitive process to lease clinical and research space from universities or medical schools it has a relationship with. This leasing flexibility could help the VA get facilities faster. The VA agreed with the GAO recommendation and said it plans to implement it.
GAO representatives identified benefits of entering into leases together, including sole-source leases. Benefits included: increased collaboration to enhance research; improved veterans’ access to care and more modern facilities; and for sole-source leases, potentially quicker access to space.
VA officials and academic affiliates identified challenges specific to sole-source leases, including: issues with the VA’s communication about the status of these leases; and difficulties determining how to apply the VA’s standard processes when pursuing a more unique project.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
