Dear #dirtylaundryexpert,
With COVID, the flu, etc. I want to protect my medical staff. How can I help manage our medical gowns or scrubs?
Sincerely,
Keep My Team Safe
Dear “Keep My Team Safe,”
Great question. Let’s examine the primary reason we use medical gowns or scrubs in the first place, which is:
To reduce the spread of germs, both from outside and within the facility.
This means there are two primary factors in play for an effective program.
- Ability for staff to easily shed contaminated garments and put on clean ones, before, during, and after their shift(s).
- Ability to verify that clean garments are free of infection. If your OPL (on premise laundry) is not certified hygenically clean, then you must either:
- Get certified
- Forget about this concern, or
- Outsource to a provider that is third-party certified and tested quarterly (like us)
As for the garments themselves, be sure someone is managing your program to ensure:
- Intended body coverage is achieved (no big holes)
- Garments fit comfortably (so staff wears them), and
- There are plenty of the correct sizes (so staff doesn’t reuse them).
This is more easily achieved through an outsourced solution with the right provider.
If you are still processing your own protective garments, it is probably because one of your peers had a bad experience with outsourcing.
It may have been because of cost back in the day, but that can no longer possibly be the case.
It is definitely true that not all medical linen and uniform providers are created equal, so buyer beware.
And heed those recommendations and warnings from your peers.
As always, you can count on me for super biased, opinionated, salesperson advice!
If you are concerned about your staff, let the professionals handle your dirty work.
I’m Jay Rasmussen, and This is My Dirty Laundry.
*Jay is the Vice President of Sales at Balfurd Linen & Uniform Service and is a “Dirty Laundry Expert.” Contact him at Jay@balfurd.com.
