Canada-based LHLSI – London Hospital Linen Service Inc. – is a private, not-for-profit cooperative laundry that has “always a step ahead” in its DNA. It was the first laundry in Canada to provide sterile linen packs to its clients and a quarter of a century later, Covid presents the laundry with new challenges. Sourcing single-use materials was suddenly impossible, and the need for reusable hospital linen skyrocketed. A solution was needed, and fast.
Until March last year, the company processed approx. 20,000 PPE gowns per week. The demand exploded at the outburst of Covid and to manage the enormous volumes, the laundry decided to end the folding process and deliver the gowns in bulk carts of 500 or in bags of 10 pieces each. The new set-up was designed in close co-operation with its supplier and increased the laundry’s output by 600 – 800 per cent. It enabled the company to cope with the enormous demand for reusable PPE gowns.
London Hospital Linen Service Inc., was built in 1972 as a central servicing laundry for the healthcare facilities. It quickly grew and its team of nearly 200 employees is now serving 45 healthcare customers in that region, processing 250 tonnes per week.