CHICAGO — Brad Houchin has been in the laundry and linen industry for just three years, with the Chickasaw Laundry Service Uniform Distribution Center in Oklahoma.
However, in that brief time, he has enrolled in and completed his CLLM and RLLD certifications through the Association for Linen Management (ALM).
Also in that time, Houchin oversaw the expansion of the facility from a commercial laundry to an industrial laundry. The plan had been put into place before he arrived, and shortly after, the company purchased a tunnel washer, an additional ironer/finishing line and several other key pieces of equipment.
“We began operations in February of this year,” Houchin says. “As I like to say about opening a new industrial laundry, ‘It is one of the greatest learning experiences of my life that I hope to never repeat.’”
Before becoming manager of the facility, Houchin was a customer of the facility. He managed the uniform department at a casino.
“When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance to be a part of a facility that had a proven track record of quality and service,” he says.
Joshua Briggs and Brandon Marsh have similar stories.
Briggs is director of linen services, mailroom and courier services at Charleston (W.Va.) Area Medical Center. He worked in safety for about six years, followed by time with a homebuilder, an aluminum manufacturer and Disney. He then transitioned into employee benefits for about a year and a half, and from there became an HR generalist. Briggs worked in that field a little more than a year before getting into linen services.
“I was told about the position and took the opportunity to get into management,” he says.
Marsh, who has been regional laundry and linen manager for Providence Health and Services in Portland, Ore., for the past two years, started in environmental services during school and had experience cleaning medical office buildings. After completing his education, he took a position in laundry and linen at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
“While in linen, I was fortunate to have a supervisor that mentored me and gave me the opportunity to learn all facets of the business. To expand my skill base, I was promoted to a supervisor position in environmental services,” Marsh says. “When the linen manager position became available, I jumped at the opportunity.”
Houchin, Briggs and Marsh are working to become the laundry leaders of the future. While all three are still learning and growing in their positions, they have ideas that they hope will impact the laundry and linen industry.
BUSINESS PRACTICES
When it comes to business practices in the industry, Houchin, Briggs and Marsh each identified different areas that concern them.
Houchin believes there are inconsistencies in industry standards. And that, he says, makes it difficult for a next-generation laundry leader.
“As it is with many industries, there is a school standard, a vendor standard, an experienced laundry leader standard and probably a few other standards, none of which seem to fully agree with each other,” says Houchin. “Trying to determine what is the most reliable source or the most effective practice can be challenging. I would like to see an ‘industry standard’ that is more consistent throughout the industry.”
A positive for Houchin has been the partnerships he established almost immediately. He was introduced to other facility managers, and their approach to him was one of a mentor, a partner and a friend.
“Part of what drives me to learn more and to gain more experience is the possibility that I may one day be able to be for someone else what these industry veterans were to me,” Houchin says. “What they did, and are doing, for me went well beyond networking. I think it is something that is unique to this industry, and I believe that as long as that kind of environment exists, this industry will thrive.”
Briggs would like the industry to become even more automated. As much as possible, he would like to remove the human-error potential from the process.
However, he is realistic when it comes to how much the industry can change.
“Most of what is done is tried and true and will stay the same because it works,” says Briggs. “There is only so much you can do with the washing and drying process.”
For Marsh, the focus is on cost reduction. He says that in the healthcare industry, the most important practice that needs to change is educating the clinical staff on the value of linens.
“With the current state of healthcare, cost savings is essential to both the health system and the patient. Product standardization, proper utilization and conscious efforts will result in cost reduction,” says Marsh. “However, we have to be sensitive to changing the culture, because linen is very personal to nursing staff, and when we standardize or find a cost-savings product alternative, it often causes nursing dissatisfaction. This is an ongoing challenge for front-line staff, management and the co-op.”
One practice that Marsh finds doesn’t work: exchange carts.
The carts don’t work for the amount of linen his facility uses on a daily basis, he explains. Also, by using exchange carts, he sees the staff still use bulk items to fill the cart, which defeats the purpose.
Come back Tuesday for the conclusion about technology and insights into the future of laundries.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].