Bermuda Hospital Board (BHB)’s upgraded laundry department has come through its testing phase with a clean bill of health.
CEO & President Michael Richmond, commented: “Every single patient care area requires clean, sanitised laundry. I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to have an effective and efficient laundry service supplying the required linens, gowns, towels and other items in the delivery of patient care. In fact, about 6,000lbs of it is cleaned, dried and pressed every day at BHB.
“Prior to the upgrade, our laundry staff were hampered by old equipment that was prone to breaking down. They had to work with an infrastructure that hadn’t been properly upgraded in over 60 years. The ultimate beneficiary of the upgrade is patient care, so my thanks go to all involved in making this project a success and special appreciation for our laundry staff for all they do each day to help us deliver the highest quality and safest care to our patients.”
Laundry Manager Kizzy Philips gave special thanks to the laundry staff and the BIU: “We’ve had six months of the upgrade, and many years of working with old equipment and infrastructure. Taking us through to today, the laundry staff have been fantastic, and we couldn’t have asked for a better working partnership with the BIU. I’m excited to see a laundry facility that helps laundry staff support the clinical services across all our campuses. The new equipment makes a huge difference to our productivity and efficiency, and we are proud knowing that we are now meeting international laundry standards.
Director of Hotel Services Jerome Swainson added: “The laundry processes all linens, gowns and clothes used by new-borns through to those near the end of life, the curtains used across the hospital, microfibre cloths used by Environmental Services, as well lab coats and scrubs for staff. For safety and comfort patients and staff need clean laundry items constantly and we can now deliver this through a more efficient service.”
The project started in July 2022 and cost $6.6 million, in line with its original budget. The impact of the costs on BHB, however, was eased by a $1.3 million donation by a single donor through the Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Foundation (BHCF).
Executive Director of the BHCF, Kim Pratt, noted: “We are very grateful to our donor, the Pritzker/Schwartz, Vlock family, who could see the importance of a modern laundry to the delivery of high quality patient care. The donor had originally reached out during COVID to see how they could help, but responded when they heard BHB needed to upgrade and expand the laundry facility. The donor stated that they knew this would have a long-lasting effect. The following is a direct quote: ‘We love Bermuda and the hospital as it is such an important resource for the island we love so much.’”
Vice President of Hotel Services, Facilities and Property Management, Danny Moore, gave special thanks to the facilities staff and vendors working on the project: “Working with such old infrastructure is extremely challenging and this project was not without its surprises and challenges. It’s great credit to all our partners on the project and internal staff that we worked through them, and managed to keep to the budget. The new laundry is a credit to all involved in the project.”
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