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How to Thrive in Growing Long-Term-Care Market (Conclusion)

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — As Americans get older and stays at hospitals get shorter, long-term care is a solution that will see much growth in the future, according to Amanda Lobb, RLLD, formerly director of Calderon Textiles’ healthcare division. This means there may be new opportunities for laundries to process linens for these facilities. Doing so, though, will mean that businesses will need to become familiar with long-term care and its unique requirements.

Lobb spoke on the topic at the Association for Linen Management’s most recent annual educational conference, in a presentation titled New Business Opportunities in Long-Term Care.

SOILS AND WOUND CARE

Another not-so-small area to tackle: soils. In a long-term-care facility, soils may be quite different from what some laundries are used to dealing with. Bowel movement, Lobb says, is a huge issue that greatly affects the soil factor. Vaseline is another common soil, along with things like perfumed lotions, nail polish and other personal products that residents might use in their everyday lives.

“It’s not a hotel room, it’s not a hospital room. It is their home,” says Lobb. “So you’re going to find a lot of interesting things in a resident’s room in a nursing home.”

And because long-term-care facilities often have cardiac units and kidney dialysis units, launderers may find hospital-type chemicals in the linen as well.

Unfortunately, Lobb says, laundry supervisors at long-term-care facilities tend to wear many hats and may not be as educated about the wash process and other elements of textile care as vendors would hope. For some, she says, the process is no more than simply hitting a button on a machine. Herein lies the opportunity for a commercial laundry.

“For you, that’s the advantage. You are the expert,” Lobb says. “You’re the one who can help bring that [expertise] to the table.”

Other important things to note are that bed changes take place typically every two days; that patients don’t usually wear gowns but rather their own clothes or pajamas; and that healthcare-acquired conditions are a growing concern, like they are in hospitals.

Wound care is important, too, and should be understood not only by the director of nursing and RNs, but also by laundry supervisors. For example, staff should be familiar with the role of fabric softeners, especially in the case of underpads. Lobb says since fabric softeners coat underpads and make them less absorbent, puddles can form and irritate residents’ skin.

“It’s not just a laundry issue, it’s a clinical issue,” she says. “Linen is clinical. It touches everyone.”

Of course, there are some areas in which long-term care and acute care have shared concerns. Thus, laundries already dealing with some of these issues might be better equipped to handle the range of issues presented by laundering goods from a long-term-care facility.

Some hospital co-ops are already processing long-term-care linens, Lobb says, and any facility already practicing OSHA’s universal precautions for bloodborne pathogens and using personal protective equipment (PPE) is in a good position to pick up long-term-care business.

Businesses that currently focus on hospitality linen can get a leg up on the competition, too, in some ways. Since napkins and tablecloths are used in the residents’ dining hall, laundries can offer their service and expertise in this area.

PRODUCTS FOR LONG-TERM CARE

“In a long-term-care facility, there is an expectation for a nicer product,” Lobb says. That’s partly because these facilities function as homes for individuals, whether or not they’re in need of skilled care.

Lobb says that in terms of skin care for residents, offering a product with a smooth skin surface is of the utmost importance, and this is usually best achieved through use of a synthetic product.

“I don’t care how bright-white it is, I don’t care how long you tell me it’s going to last. If it’s not a smooth skin surface, I’m not interested,” she says. “When you get into a T180 or some of the synthetic products that are out there, you have a much smoother skin surface to deal with.”

Synthetic products also last significantly longer “than even your best poly-cotton,” Lobb says, allowing for savings through extending product life and decreasing product replacement.

Of course, a laundry processing these synthetic materials may have to experiment with things like wash formulas, drying times and finishing to see if these products are worth adding to the mix. Lobb says finding the time for this experimentation in plants that are trying to be as efficient as possible is a major issue.

“Nobody likes change. But it’s worth it, and it’s definitely the future in this industry,” she comments. “A synthetic product is going to give you a competitive, profitable advantage over someone who is not leaning in that direction.”

Another thing to consider: not all mattresses in long-term-care facilities are the same size, so you may need variable solutions for those different mattress sizes.

The ability to process bedspreads is a must, Lobb says, and that includes quilted bedspreads, duvets and other items a laundry may not be used to processing. Also, residents have come to expect nicer products, such as satin-striped sheets, especially those who are staying at a long-term care facility on a short-term basis. The expectation is that the facility will be more like a hotel and less like a hospital.

Plan to do clothing protectors, too, as they are a “hot, hot spot” in long-term-care markets. Cubicle curtains could be a money-maker, Lobb says, because they tend to tolerate being put through an ironer. Explaining that these items must be laundered on a certain schedule is an area where businesses can help in terms of education.

And keep in mind that as Americans get larger, products like bath towels will need to get larger, too.

“I know we all think about the little 90-pound lady in the nursing home, but only half of those people in nursing homes are little 90-pound ladies,” Lobb says. “Everybody else is pretty average size.”

Laundries will need to have a good partnership with their textile suppliers, and probably other vendors, too, Lobb says.

“Really, if you’re going to make a decision like this and you’re going to change product, add product, [or] eliminate something, you really should have your textile expert, your chemical expert, and your equipment guy all at the table with you,” she says.

And a final piece of advice for anyone looking to enter this market: Go slow.

“Go in on the kiddie-pool side,” Lobb says. “Don’t jump in headfirst into the 12-foot.”

Miss Part 1? You can read it HERE.

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Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].