APRIL 2016
Late News Olympic Linen files for bankruptcy PHILADELPHIA — Central Laundry Inc., doing business as Olympic Linen, filed for bankruptcy in February, reports the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The Lansdowne, Pa.based laundry filed its petition while it faces wageand-hour lawsuits filed in a private action by workers and a separate U.S. Department of Labor complaint, according to SEIU. Low-wage industrial workers filed a class action lawsuit in 2014 alleging wage theft, says SEIU. In the ongoing complaint, workers claim Olympic did not pay the minimum wage or overtime required by state law for all hours worked. In addition to the workers’ lawsuit, the Labor Department also sued the company, claiming Olympic paid below the minimum wage and failed to pay the overtime premium, thereby violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, SEIU says. In the bankruptcy filings, SEIU notes, the Labor Department is listed as a creditor owed $1.4 million. The bankruptcy petition does not list the amount claimed in the private action, Knolly Arnold et al v. Central Laundry Inc. American Laundry News contacted Olympic Linen seeking comment but its representative was unavailable as of press time. ALN
Volume 42, Number 4
Solutions to misuse of rental textiles start with end-users BY MATT POE, EDITOR CHICAGO — Richard Warren, manager of the Conway, Ark., facility of Linen King, sees that one of the biggest “headaches” for textile rental companies is that, many time, when a customer goes on a rental program, they “lose all sense of responsibility.” “If employees use napkins or pillowcases to polish their shoes, it’s OK. If some item appears to be overly soiled, it’s OK to discard it,” he says. “In both cases, that’s the wrong assumption.” “We spend a great deal of time trying to educate our customers to maximize the service that we’re providing,” says Seth Gershman, director of marketing and communications for Unitex Textile Rental Services in New York. “We’re really trying to add value to the service since a lot of customers have to pay additional fees when it’s not coming back to us.”
Misuse of rented textiles and linens in a healthcare setting is a major issue, but he sees that the problem goes deeper. Gershman says that until textile misuse becomes a big enough issue for healthcare management and administration to start seeing the dollar figures associated with the loss, his grassroots initiatives to educate the customer has minimal effect. “We try, and we do a lot of things to try to talk to the user,” he says. “We talk to the nurses, the CNAs, the staff that’s really the day-to-day user. However, until there’s real pressure put on them by management, it’s really tough for us to make any inroads.” One thing that Unitex and most textile rental companies do, according to Gershman, is monitor the usage closely so that the company knows exactly what it’s sending and what it’s getting back. “We have a pretty good gauge
on who’s being responsible and who is not being responsible,” he says. “When administration starts getting bills in the six figures for lost linen, then they start really tak-
ing notice, and we’ve been able to help with the education process.” Gershman finds that a lot of See TEXTILES on Page 10
Healthcare scrubs affect patient care perception BY MATT POE, EDITOR RICHMOND, Ky. — It’s common to see healthcare employees wearing scrubs. What used to be reserved for doctors and nurses is now even worn by front desk staff. In recent surveys, the wearing of scrubs was key to patient care perception. However, too many colors and styles have made the use of scrubs confusing to patients and frustrating for laundries. Today, more healthcare facilities are moving toward scrub programs to make staff more identifiable and to make processing easier. Janice Larson, vice president of
clinic resources and consulting for Encompass Group, explored this topic during the Association for Linen Management’s (ALM) webinar titled Hospital Trends: How Uniform Programs Affect Patient Outcomes. In addition, American Laundry News received input from two textile manufacturers and distributors on changing scrub materials and styles. Larson says that scrubs were first worn by doctors in the operating room (OR). From there, wearing scrubs spread to OR nurses. By the 1980s, scrubs had spread to the rest of the hospital, she says. “The scrubs were provided to all
clinical staff throughout the hospital and laundered by the on-premises hospital laundry” Larson says. “Eventually, scrubs spread to nonclinical staff, such as housekeeping, dietary and transport.” Because of the widespread use of scrubs and the cost pressure of providing and maintaining them, processing began to change. On-premises laundries (OPLs) started to close, according to Larson, and processing moved to commercial laundries. Scrubs in departments other than a critical few, such as the OR and central sterile services, were then purchased and laundered by the employees. While wearing scrubs made
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INSIDE Association IMPACT ALM’s renamed educational conference debuts in Arizona.
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Misuse of rental textiles is, for all practical purposes, money tossed in the trash for both rental companies and customers. (Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)
life easy for healthcare employees, problems began to appear when it came to the patients. “Patient satisfaction surveys started to show that patients had difficulty identifying staff,” Larson says. She shared one scrub color-code list from a healthcare provider that had color instructions for a mindboggling 18 departments. A 2012 University of Pennsylvania study on registered nurses (RN) and 60 patients showed that professional status and quality care is linked to uniform style and color, says Larson. Almost 80% of See SCRUBS on Page 11
The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
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Columnist at Large Eric Frederick explores textile philosophy by laundry type.
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Panel of Experts
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Our experts tackle how to limit linen loss and employee hoarding.
3/18/16 2:05 PM