Content about LOUISVILLE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Association for Linen Management returns here on June 24-27 for its 72nd Annual Conference.

The “Plan for Excellence” event at The Seelbach Hilton is built on an extensive array of educational sessions, as well as association activities and networking/social events.

An optional pre-conference program on June 24 will feature sessions on Implementing AORN’s Recommended Practice for Surgical Attireand Success by the Numbers...Production Standards & Metrics.

Keynote speaker Paul Fayad, CEO of HHA Services, will kick off the conference June 25 as he identifies the essentials to being Equipped for Success.

The morning of June 26 brings a new feature as participants “eavesdrop” on a panel discussion about the industry’s changing structure, its place in the investment world, and how these changes may impact business structure and design. Panelists include Swisher Hygiene’s Doug Story, Laundry-Consulting.com’s David Chadsey and ARCO Murray’s Ed Kwasnick.

Breakout sessions throughout the conference include:

• Efficiencies in the Wash Process, Steven Tinker, Gurtler Industries — The program will address rewash and reclaim numbers that can be costly and finding solutions to problem soils without tipping the balance sheet.
• An Exchange Cart Program that Works, Barbara Williams, Standard Textile — Whether you’ve been building exchange carts for years or are just starting a program, this session will provide solutions to problems and opportunities to maximize successes.
• Is It Time for a Tunnel?, Chadsey — Tunnel/continuous batch washers provide savings in chemicals, water and labor. But how do you make an accurate assessment of the situation vs. a “guess”?
• Linen’s Role in Improving Patient Outcomes, Carol Stamas, CLLM, and Janice Larson, CLLM, Encompass — Understanding the inherent nature of the products, how they impact healing, and their appropriate use can make the difference in patient and fiscal outcomes.
• Satisfaction Surveys That Work, Jerry Palmer, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) — This program will focus on designing a survey tool to identify what the patient/customer deems important and using that information to improve services and retain customers.
• Quality Assurance: Textiles in Patient Care Areas, Nancy Bjerke, MSN — A quality healthcare laundry provides hygienically clean textiles to the hospital customer. But what steps are taken to maintain the hygienic integrity of those products once they arrive at the facility? Identify areas of issue or concern, and the approach to managing those situations.
• Customer Satisfaction Rule 1: Communication, Jennifer Fairchild, EKU — This session will provide attendees with keys to listening, accurately understanding what their customer wants vs. needs, and assessing performance.
• Isolation Gowns for Lean & Green Operations, Peter Menaker, CLLM, American Dawn — Reusable gowns definitely provide a green approach but how can facilities manage the costs (inventory and processing) while assuring clinicians safe and quality products?
• Prep for the Consultant, Jeff Cohen, MedAssets — The C-Suite (CEO, CFO and COO) has just announced that it has hired a consulting firm to assess operations and identify areas where improvements can be made. What will they expect from you? And what can you expect when all is said and done?
• Infection Control: Bed Change Considerations, Marcia Pierce, EKU — Can you “marry” good utilization and the related cost savings with the concerns over infection prevention?
• Out for Bid, Menaker — This will be a discussion of the critical elements of the product bidding process and the problems that you can encounter.
• Real Performance Improvement in Linen Utilization, Sarah James, RLLD, IPA — This session will go beyond concepts to walk you through an actual situation where linen utilization provided significant outcomes in a healthcare facility.

ALM will also name the year’s top laundry manager and allied tradesperson during the conference.

To learn more about the conference, visit the association's website.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An investigation is under way to determine how a Cintas Corp. maintenance technician was killed early Friday morning when the industrial dryer he was servicing started.

Kevin Lee Burgess, 55, died from blunt-force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to local authorities. Police are conducting a death investigation but believe the incident that occurred sometime before 4:45 a.m. Friday was an accident, according to local media reports.

“Cintas is devastated to have learned about the accident that took the life of one of our employee-partners at our uniform rental facility in Louisville overnight,” the company says in a prepared statement. “Our deepest heartfelt sympathy is extended to his family.

“The safety and security of our employee-partners is a priority at Cintas, and we are shaken by this news. The company remains focused on providing support to the family and his co-workers at the facility. A thorough investigation has begun to determine the cause of this accident.”

In March 2007, a Cintas worker was killed when he fell into an industrial dryer at the company’s Tulsa, Okla., plant. The death sparked a federal investigation of Cintas and prompted U.S. lawmakers to introduce laws for even greater federal oversight of worksite safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) later fined Cintas for safety violations at the Tulsa plant and five other locations.

Cintas reached an agreement with OSHA pertaining to all automated and semi-automated laundry facilities under OSHA’s federal jurisdiction in December 2008, and agreed to pay $2.76 million in fines.

The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) says this latest incident “comes amid steady improvements in the industry’s overall safety record as reflected in TRSA’s latest Safety Survey, which indicated that total recordable injuries and illnesses (TRIR) dropped by 5% from 2009-10.”

“This incident occurred despite substantial improvements and our industry’s investment in safety,” TRSA CEO Joseph Ricci says in an association blog entry. “We should respond by strengthening the industry’s resolve to continue our focus on developing safety cultures and striving for zero tolerance.”

Cintas has worked closely with TRSA to help educate industry colleagues on best practices for accident/illness prevention, according to the association, sponsoring tours of its semi-automated wash aisle facilities (one is scheduled at the company’s Lawrenceville, Ga., plant next week) and participating in various panel discussions on safety issues.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When laundry and linen distribution managers are faced with quality issues regarding their linen products, the root cause could be their equipment, the ways the textiles are being processed, or even the textiles themselves.

LOUISVILLE — If your institution or business is in the market for a laundry service provider, how can you tell which candidate is a ‘quality’ linen processor and which is not? Or, if you are in the running to provide laundry service for a new client, what are they likely to expect of the provider they ultimately choose?

“I’ve noticed my plant’s production has begun to lag and I believe that it’s being caused by a bottleneck somewhere in the workflow. Where are the problem areas most likely to be and how can I prevent such delays from occurring in the future?”

Textile/Uniform Rental — Kurt Rutkowski, Universal Linen Service, Louisville, Ky.

Production bottlenecks can occur in many different areas.

LOUISVILLE — Some early arrivers for this week’s Association for Linen Management Annual Conference learned What to Expect from a Quality Laundry Processor on Thursday.

In a pre-conference session at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, industry veteran Carl Rau, Standard Textile Co., examined what a “quality” laundry processor looks like. The company’s manager of North American Laundry Markets addressed what should be reasonable expectations for laundry services, the rights of a healthcare facility, and the facility’s responsibilities.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As industry struggles to manage costs, provide quality and sustain growth, it must continue to evolve. Its aspiration is to preserve the principles that made it strong, continuously examine new opportunities to improve, and form a clear strategic plan.