Image Credit: Interior Health
February 12, 2015 - 10:30 AM
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Interior Health is moving forward with a plan to privatize laundry service in the region.
The organization says it is now seeking more information from pre-qualified service providers recently identified. This will allow Interior Health to look at the external options available, something it hopes will help reduce necessary capital costs to upgrade laundry equipment.
“We know this is difficult news for our employees who have worked hard to make our laundry plants efficient,” Director for Support Services Alan Davies said. “But as we’ve noted from the outset, the decision to explore alternatives isn’t about the efficiency of our operations. It’s about avoiding future significant spending to replace aging equipment, an investment we can’t make when considering other health-care medical equipment priorities.”
Currently laundry service is provided by Interior Health staff. They work at five large and six small laundry sites throughout the region and service hospitals, health centres and residential care facilities owned and operated by the health authority.
“We have stressed to our employees that nothing is changing today. We have a lengthy process in front of us, and the earliest we would anticipate any changes to laundry services would be spring 2016,” said Davies, noting the impact to staff is unknown and dependent on the outcome of the latest request.
Interior Health is moving forward with the request for solutions in conjunction with Lower Mainland health authorities which are currently re-tendering existing private contracts for laundry services as well.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015