Our Story
Gus Gear was founded by Sarah Palya over a decade ago after her son Gus was diagnosed with intestinal failure resulting from dysmotility and requiring long-term parenteral nutrition. Gus also has autism, and his constant movement and activity put him at risk for accidental line trauma and infection. Sarah looked for ways to secure his central line while also allowing him to live as normally as possible, without severely restricting his activity. Finding no solutions, she sat down at her sewing machine and created the very first Gus Gear Central Line Vest to secure his catheter.
Over the years, the vest evolved and developed into the FDA class I exempt medical device now used in over seventy hospitals. This easy to use, breathable device secures single or multiple lumen tunneled central lines, eliminating trauma from line pulls, and decreasing risk of infection and line entanglement, while optimizing clinical outcomes and quality of life. Central Line Vests are best implemented immediately after tunneled line insertion, for comprehensive securement from day 1 to prevent complications and CVAD failure.
A true measure of success, Gus has had his current central venous catheter for nearly 6 years, without a repair or replacement.
Gus Gear’s mission is to improve safety and quality of life for those who rely on central lines, feeding tubes, and peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters for delivery of life-saving therapies. The LOCK 3000 launched in 2023 to provide comprehensive securement for feeding tubes and PD catheters. Ostomy pouch covers and line covers were developed based on Sarah’s personal experience caring for Gus, and are available for direct consumer purchase.
Gus Gear continues to innovate, with the goal of equal access to the product line for all patients in need of comprehensive securement.
Our Mission and Vision
Gus Gear’s mission is to improve the safety and quality of life for those facing medical challenges. For more than a decade, we’ve worked passionately and diligently, delivering on that mission through the development, manufacturing, and distribution of high-quality medical devices at reasonable prices.
Our vision is for our products to be the standard of care and have them be available to as many individuals as possible. We work on seeing this vision through by assisting those with financial hardship through resources and advice to get support from clinics and companies to gain access to our life-changing products.
At Gus Gear, we believe in conducting our business honestly and ethically, ensuring we’re doing the right thing for our customers, our strategic partners, our team members, and our company. We strive to produce the highest quality products while maintaining a reputation for honesty, respect, responsibility, integrity, trust, and sound business judgment.
Our Core Values
Equity
We believe equity means ensuring our products are accessible to every patient, regardless of their ability to pay. We are actively providing resources on funding opportunities.
Hard work
We value hard work because we believe it translates to meaningful, tangible outcomes for our customers. We’re passionate about creating an environment that rewards hard work and embraces innovation.
Patient-first Approach
Patient first is our “North Star.” Having a positive impact on patients and their families is central to our business purpose. Everything we do is measured by the question: Does this help the patient by improving outcomes and quality of life?
Integrity and Honesty
We seek partnerships, not transactions with customers, partners, investors, and stakeholders. Honesty and integrity through transparency is how we form lasting and meaningful partnerships.
Environmental responsibility
In a throw-away society, we seek to make products that last for years to come by producing high-quality products and ensuring the packaging and shipping are done in an environmentally-friendly way.