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Linenmgt

Linen replacement costs for hospitals range from $200,000 to $250,000 annually depending on size and services provided. Approximately 50-60% of soiled linen is considered loss due to damage or contamination, while the rest is from normal wear and tear. Soiled linen from healthcare facilities is considered contaminated medical waste and should be handled with universal precautions. Reusable linen bags that are leak-proof are sufficient for transporting soiled laundry within facilities. Automated linen and scrub dispensing systems can help facilities better track inventory but have high upfront costs over $100,000. Their installation may also be limited by space constraints in areas like operating room dressing rooms.

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Salafudin Baharsyah
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28 views2 pages

Linenmgt

Linen replacement costs for hospitals range from $200,000 to $250,000 annually depending on size and services provided. Approximately 50-60% of soiled linen is considered loss due to damage or contamination, while the rest is from normal wear and tear. Soiled linen from healthcare facilities is considered contaminated medical waste and should be handled with universal precautions. Reusable linen bags that are leak-proof are sufficient for transporting soiled laundry within facilities. Automated linen and scrub dispensing systems can help facilities better track inventory but have high upfront costs over $100,000. Their installation may also be limited by space constraints in areas like operating room dressing rooms.

Uploaded by

Salafudin Baharsyah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Linen Management

Linen Loss
The national industry standard for complete linen
replacement cost is 10-14 cent per pound of soiled linen
processed for a year. Higher when you throw in OR and
other special linens. Of this figure, probably 50-60% will
be loss while the rest is normal fair/wear/tear. At a
teaching Medical Hospital stats are slightly higher than a
community based type. Linen replacement for a 500 bed
general hospital should be between $200-250,000.

Red Bagging of Soiled Laundry/Linen


Soiled laundry/linen generated by healthcare facilities is
considered to be contaminated and not regulated (red bag)
medical waste. The linen should be handled as potentially
infectious thus the need to comply with universal/standard
precautions as outlined in OSHA 29CFR 1910.1030 and CDC
1996. A standard reusable linen bag is all that is
necessary to contain the soiled laundry/linen. If leak-
through is noticed, double bagging is sufficient. Reusable
linen bags today are of material and thread count (200-400 denier) to prevent soak-
through with normal handling or being transported in chutes. Cloth (reusable) bags are
far less expensive than single-use plastic bags and also reduce disposable waste.

Dispensing Linen & Scrubs


An "Auto-Valet," or a linen/scrubs vending machine, can
help you keep better control of your inventory. There are
several systems on the market today. "Scrub Management"
"Scrub Avail" "Scrub Exchange" to name a few. All systems
require access codes by user and they must put one in to
get one out. A facility will have to weigh the cost of the
system, (ROI payback) against the cost of lost scrubs.
These systems, based on quantity requirements can run well
over $100,000.00. Space is another consideration, most
dressing rooms in an OR suite may not have the room for
installation.

Some good references are:

American National Standard Institute/Association for the


Advancement of Medical Instrumentation publication ST65-
2000 "Processing of reusable Surgical textiles for use in
healthcare facilities"
American Hospital Association/American Society for
Healthcare Environmental Services publication 057043
"Healthcare Textile Services: Infection Control"

National Association of Institutional Linen Management


publication "Healthcare Textile Infection Control
Guidelines"

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