BURLINGTON, Ontario — Mohawk Medbuy Corporation (MMC) reports it has sold its Linen Services division to Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service, a family-owned healthcare linens service business in Canada and the United States.
The sale follows a competitive process facilitated by a third party and conducted in collaboration with MMC Members. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The outcome meets the criteria Mohawk Medbuy established at the outset to ensure continued employment for its Hamilton-based employees and long-term service commitments to the hospitals and other customers it supports.
Divesting its linens business will allow MMC to focus on its growing, national healthcare supply chain services.
“Mohawk Medbuy has a 50-year legacy of providing quality linens services and we’re very proud of our team,” says Peter Longo, MMC’s chief operating officer. “Ecotex is extremely well equipped to build on the dedicated service we’ve provided—and is bringing new investments in equipment to the Hamilton plant.
“It’s a very positive next step for our linens staff, our member hospitals and customers, and the City of Hamilton.”
Ecotex provides healthcare laundry services using its large regional linen reprocessing facilities. Its use of environmentally friendly practices has earned the company a Clean Green certification.
“We’re thrilled that MMC and their hospitals selected Ecotex based on the value, quality and savings we offer,” says Ecotex President and CEO Bryan Bartsch. “We look forward to having the 200-plus person team in Hamilton become part of the Ecotex family and to delivering our high standard of service to our new customers.
“To ensure that, we’re making infrastructure investments to the Hamilton facility this year, including a new tunnel washer, press, shuttle and dryer system.”
For hospitals currently served by MMC, the company says Ecotex brings a new level of scale and resources. Based on the company’s expertise and strong track record within health care, the selection of Ecotex was firmly endorsed by all the hospitals currently served by MMC’s linen operations.
“This is a very good outcome for our patients, our hospital, and our community,” says John Aldis, senior vice president of finance and corporate services at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
“It reflects the effort MMC undertook to engage member hospitals through the process, align on key objectives, and find the best match in a partner that really understands and can meet our evolving linen service needs into the future.”
The selection of Ecotex was the right decision, according to Paul Truscott Jr., senior vice president and chief operating officer of Health Sciences North (HSN).
“Linens are essential to patient care,” he says. “The scale, resources and operational redundancy that Ecotex brings to the table gives us great confidence that they will deliver for our hospital. Equally important, they’re able to provide cost savings in the process. That’s a win-win for HSN.”
Mohawk Medbuy and Ecotex are currently implementing the transition phase to ensure a seamless service handoff on Feb. 29.
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