NPPGov (GPO)
As you look to Cooperative Purchasing across the State of
Washington to support your department’s purchasing needs, there are several organizations
to choose from. All of these cooperative purchasing organizations have vendor
agreements, customer service professionals and websites where you can find the
documents you need to evaluate pricing and terms. Only one, however, offers a
truly different cooperative option. NPPGov (GPO) offers the largest selection
of Public Safety agreements focusing on quality Public Safety GPO offerings and
providing support for Public Safety as well as the community at large.
NPPGov is owned by a non-profit hospital, Virginia Mason Medical
Center in Seattle, and provides revenue to support their non-profit
initiatives, which are especially critical during COVID-19. At the peak of the
pandemic in Seattle, NPPGov team members worked at the medical center,
assisting people entering the building. This freed up medical center employees,
allowing them to perform more critical functions within the hospital. It’s just
one example of how NPPGov is more than a cooperative purchasing organization, we
strive to support the community and its healthcare needs.
Over the past 12 months, NPPGov (GPO) has enhanced many
aspects of our organization to better support partner associations and members
directly. The two most dramatic changes to GPO are a new “go to market
strategy” and a significant expansion of our vendor offerings and services. To
be clear, our organization has not changed ownership, nor have we changed our commitment
to the Public Safety market or our support for our Association Partners. But we
have enhanced our services to benefit organizations like yours.
One significant change GPO made was to benefit Public Safety
partners that are closest to the front lines. In the past, GPO’s financial
support to the Fire Service was accomplished through a pyramid system of fee
distribution, which started with one parent Public Safety organization that
would then allocate dollars to other organizations across the country at its
discretion. This system was less beneficial to many organizations who wound up
waiting extended periods to receive their piece of the pie. GPO’s new “go to
market strategy” partners directly with state associations to support their
financial and member needs. We effectively eliminated the middle man. This
direct relationship allows us to provide greater financial resources faster. We
can also secure better feedback from members concerning the needs of
departments and individual members.
The second significant change is our greatly expanded vendor
offering. As a result of some strategic partner changes at the end of 2019, GPO
has transitioned its previous vendors over to new agreements with extended expiration
dates, many with many having expanded product offerings. GPO has 77 new
agreements (and counting). Our members can still secure the products and
services they need without having to conduct their own RFP process. Here’s a
sample of some updated offerings and new vendors.
Medical Products and Patient Monitor Vendors
We’ve renewed and expanded our medical product offerings including
our longstanding relationship with ZOLL Medical. In addition, we have added these new vendors who
have been able to supply many members with greatly needed PPE equipment:
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Digital Ally
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Life-Assist
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Sourcemark
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Ferno
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Mckesson
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Labsource
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Medline Industries
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Wireless Mobility
GPO renewed and expand our popular agreements with AT&T
FirstNet and Sprint. As the
coop with the greatest number of lines under contract with FirstNet, we look
forward to continuing that growth through our true partnership with AT&T.
Fire Apparatus
We renewed contracts with Pierce Manufacturing, Sutphen and
HME Aherns Fox. GPO is the first coop to offer their members used/refurbished
fire apparatus. We also added new agreements with the following to provide
members access to specialty apparatus, watercraft and used apparatus options:
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Alexis Fire
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Ferrara Fire Apparatus
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Pierce Manufacturing
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E-One Inc.
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Fouts Brothers
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Sutphen
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Brindle Mountain (Used/Refurbished)
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One-Boat Spartan
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HME Aherns Fox
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Fire Fighter Equipment, PPE and SCBAS
As the most widely used product category, we renewed and
added other new agreements to support our members:
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Avidbots
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LION
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Arctic Compressor
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L. N. Curtis and sons (Multiple Awards)
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Bauer Compressor
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MECO Fire
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Cascade Fire (Multiple Awards)
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Municipal Emergency Services (MES) (Multiple
Awards)
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Draeger
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NAFECO (Multiple Awards)
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Geargrid
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Ten-8 (Multiple Awards)
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Heracles
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Veridian
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NPPGov
Public Safety GPO is dedicated to offering the Public Safety market products
and services that are beneficial and easy to access. We continue to enhance our
own services, so that you are well taken care of. I’m proud of the work we do…
just like I’m proud of the work you do.
Yours
in cooperative purchasing,
Bill
DeMars
Executive
Director, NPPGov (GPO)
nppgov.com