CINCINNATI — “It was a workhorse, a really good piece of equipment, but after the 25-year mark, we decided to switch.”
That’s Tom Daskalakis, vice president and COO, University of Cincinnati Health system (UC Health), speaking about a recently replaced 14-module tunnel washer from Lavatec Laundry Technology Inc.
UC Health owns Midwest Laundry and, in turn, the equipment providing clean linen for the system’s hospitals and others in the southwest Ohio-northern Kentucky-southeast Indiana area.
“We’re the region’s only ‘academic’ health system providing high acuity care,” Daskalakis says.
UC Health includes four entities: University of Cincinnati Medical Center, West Chester Hospital, Drake Hospital (a long-term care facility) and UC Physicians, which employs about a thousand providers.
Midwest Laundry processes more than 15 million pounds of linen each year, about one-third of which is for UC Health’s own facilities. The balance of goods comes from other area hospitals as far north as Dayton, Ohio, and from more than 120 clinics, eight senior living centers and several hospitality operations.
Built in 1990, the 45,000-square-foot facility also houses a 20-year-old Lavatec tunnel, and 85 employees turn out clean linens for timely deliveries seven days a week.
A key partner in this scenario is Sodexo, a $16.6 billion global corporation in quality of life services (food service, environmental services and facilities management), which include laundry and other healthcare operations. Sodexo manages Midwest Laundry, a for-profit arm of UC Health, as well as similar facilities in about a dozen U.S. cities, coast to coast.
Jim Byrnes, district manager for Sodexo Laundry, says, “We have Lavatec equipment in most of them. It seems to be simpler with fewer moving parts than others, and it works very well.”
COMPETITIVE BIDS
Nevertheless, despite being the incumbent brand and having provided 2 1/2 decades of noteworthy service, Lavatec wasn’t a shoo-in for the new tunnel—far from it.
“All manufacturers have their own unique programming and features,” says Byrnes. “We’re responsible to our clients, in this case UC Health. Our task is to find the best match for its ongoing customer needs.”
Steve Roark, Sodexo’s client relations manager, adds, “We’re here to protect and enhance UC Health assets—not only physical, in terms of equipment, but also their reputation along with Midwest Laundry’s. We’re like a ‘silent partner.’”
Sodexo requested competitive tunnel system bids, did due diligence and narrowed the choice down to three systems, including Lavatec’s.
“We pushed them to the top level at UC Health, with our recommendation, for their final decision,” Byrnes says.
Several factors figured strongly in UC Health’s choice, Daskalakis says, one being the “history of the current service” extending beyond performance of the 15-year-old Lavatec tunnel itself.
“Parts availability and service: we’ve had no issues with getting parts or timely response from Lavatec over the years,” he says. “Although Lavatec is a German-based company, they provide easy access to what we need in the U.S.”
This contributes to overall vendor reputation, another key factor for UC Health, along with cost of equipment and ease of installation, according to Daskalakis.
More than that were “reductions in tangibles that we will see” from the new system—which includes the 14-module, 110-pound Lavatec tunnel washer; an LP 572 40-bar hydraulic extraction press; and five Lavatec TT 745 natural gas dryers, says Daskalakis. “We expect major reductions in electrical costs, gas costs and water usage.”
Another LP 572 press, for Midwest’s second Lavatec tunnel, also was part of the overall project.
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
Once the decision was made, Sodexo and Lavatec moved quickly, globally as well as locally, to make it all happen.
The new tunnel washer itself was on its way from the Lavatec plant in short order, largely due to Laser-Guided Drum Manufacturing. This automated robotic welding method not only provides tighter tolerances, uniform welds and stronger, tighter, longer-lasting seals, it also speeds up tunnel construction and delivery time dramatically, Lavatec says.
Meanwhile, at Midwest Laundry, “Planning and preparation was the key,” says Byrnes. “We relied on Lavatec and their experience for much of it. They identified the time frame and what we needed to do internally to make sure our customers didn’t experience any downtime or service blips at all.”
Step one, in terms of actual installation, was bringing in the new LP 572 extraction press for the 15-year-old Lavatec tunnel.
“They did that over a weekend,” Byrnes says. “This helped tremendously in keeping goods moving during the transition. Compatibility of the new press with our older tunnel as well as Lavatec’s new tunnel technology is a real plus.”
Next came the big switch: dismantling and removing the old tunnel and covering the same footprint with the new unit—right through the wall separating the facility’s soiled- and clean-linen processing areas. At the same time, crews removed and replaced other old system components, including five dryers and a conveyor, all while Midwest continued to process and deliver about 50,000 pounds of clean linen daily.
Roark says, “We were running 24 hours, seven days a week” with the other Lavatec tunnel, and offset some goods to another facility “to ensure that all linens were pushed through in a timely manner.”
Pressure began to ease a bit on the eighth day, when Midwest “did a soft start with the new tunnel,” Byrnes says. The pace picked up quickly and, with the LP 572 press, a two-cake shuttle and five-dryer bank in place, the new system was in full swing.
Check back Tuesday to read about customer reaction and company savings.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].