BILOXI, Miss. — The Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System (GCVHCS) hosted an open house in late January to unveil its new Textile Processing Facility here.
The facility located at the Biloxi VA Medical Center marks the first time since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the GCVHCS laundry facilities 10 years ago that the medical center is processing its own textiles, along with those from other facilities in the healthcare system and other military stations, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“We are very excited about our new state-of-the-art, stand-alone textile care facility,” says Gabriele McAdory, chief of environmental management service for the GCVHCS.
The new facility, which also houses dietetic services, has the capability to process 10 million pounds a year.
“Our employees love this facility, and I am, as well as others, still in awe of its capability and operation,” says Anthony Gayden, laundry plant manager for the facility.
In 2004, the GCVHCS was comprised of two campuses in Mississippi: Biloxi VA Medical Center and Gulfport VA Medical Center.
The two campuses had been in operation since the 1930s, but by 2004, plans were in place to expand and combine the campuses as part of VA’s Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) program.
Then, on Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and a tidal surge destroyed the Gulfport VA Medical Center.
The destruction included the laundry that processed millions of pounds of soiled goods for the hospital and military stations in the area.
The medical services were immediately transferred to the Biloxi site, which had only sustained minor damage. Laundry services had to be handled miles away.
“It was problematic, we had to send our employees and laundry to Tuscaloosa initially so that it could be processed, then to Houston where laundry was processed until our new facility was rebuilt,” says McAdory. “We had to arrange transportation through the contracted services of Glory Enterprises, utilizing trailers to house and store soiled and cleaned linen.”
The plan to combine the campuses was accelerated, according to the VA, and master planning and development jump-started for a major clinical addition, blind rehabilitation center, mental health unit, community living center, and support facilities consisting of a laundry and dietetics building, a parking garage and a utility plant.
The clinical addition, blind rehabilitation center, mental health unit and community living center opened in 2011 and 2012.
Now, the support facilities, including the new laundry, are opening to help serve the more than 60,000 veterans along the Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the Florida Panhandle, the VA says.
NEW EQUIPMENT
The facility has a “laundry list” of new equipment, which is expected for a facility that can process 10 million pounds annually and is a manager training ground. Gayden says the new equipment includes:
- From Parker Boiler, two T-6800 Direct Fired Hot Water Boilers.
- From Pellerin Milnor Corp., two 150-pound, 10-pocket tunnel washers; 350-pound and 450-pound conventional washer-extractors; three 90-100-pound conventional washer-extractors; eight 220-330-pound gas-heated drying and conditioning tumblers with external lint collection systems; three 125-150-pound gas-heated drying and conditioning tumblers; and a 450-pound gas-heated drying and conditioning tumbler with lint collection system.
- From Chicago Dryer Co., a blanket folder, three small-piece folder-stackers, three sheet spreaders and folders and three automatic linen separators.
- A Colmac steam tunnel garment finisher.
- A Felins shrink wrap system and a tying system.
- A Jensen garment folder.
- A six-head and a one-head embroidery system from SWF.
- Six lint collection scrubbers from Energenics.
- From E-Tech Inc., two soil cart dumpers, soil sort platform and conveyors; 20 station soil sort-on-rail system; eRail washer loading, dryer loading and clean delivery systems; two small piece folder bulk transfer conveyors; and six wind up fold tables.
With all of that equipment, the facility has another “laundry list” that is growing: the textiles that it processes for the healthcare facility and other customers.
The Textile Processing Facility processes sheets (operating room [OR] and white), thermal blankets, washcloths, bath towels, patient gowns, reusable pads, baby items, bedspreads, comforters, slings, laundry bags, scrubs (OR and clinical), lab coats, pillowcases, huck towels, wet and dry mops, and microfiber rags.
“As I said before, this system is so automated, there are no challenges for this staff,” Gayden says. “But there is one item that is time-consuming—scrubs. They have to be sorted by size and colors first, then processed.”
While the facility is capable of processing 10 million pounds annually, Gayden says it is on track to process up to 1.6 million in 2016. This includes all of the textiles from the healthcare facility, plus outside customers.
“That’s how much we’ll process, unless other customers come aboard,” he says. “Some pre-Hurricane Katrina customers are projected to come back to our system, but there is no confirmed date.”
Gayden says the pre-Katrina customers include the Air National Guard Base, New Orleans, VA; Jackson, Miss., VA; and the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.
“I am currently working with the Air National Guard Base to secure their business,” he adds. “The staff here at the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, Textile Care Processing Facility, look forward to consistently providing high-quality linen and customer service to both new and current customers as well as training projected laundry plant managers throughout the VA system.”
Miss Part 1 about planning the new facility? Click here to read it.
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