Healthcare Kickoff: Certification, Exec Sessions
Laundry operator executives confer during a roundtable session the day before the official opening of the TRSA Healthcare Conference.
TRSA’s Healthcare Conference & Exchange had its informal kickoff on Nov. 14 in downtown Salt Lake City as registration opened and scores of attendees assembled for meetings of the Hygienically Clean users group and board, an executive roundtable and an early-evening cocktail reception.
“We look forward to the many educational and networking opportunities that this year’s Healthcare Conference & Exchange will provide,” said TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci. “Our meetings today showed that TRSA members are primed for learning and strengthening their businesses and the industry at large in all areas of healthcare textile services.”
One highlight of these early sessions was a 3 p.m. gathering of nearly 20 executives of linen, uniform and facility services companies engaged in the healthcare textile sector. With Ricci serving as facilitator, the group reviewed a range of issues, including opportunities to grow the market for outsourcing textile services to long-term care facilities and for improvements in disaster planning by individual companies. On the latter topic, the question of how to deal with questions from news media outlets following a major plant fire or other disaster was discussed. Preparing for these sessions with the media requires planning and in most cases, advance help from public relations professionals, several speakers said. They emphasized the importance of contacting these organizations ahead of time and educating them on your business and the industry before an emergency happens. That way, if they’re needed, they can speak with an informed point of view about the company and the industry.
TRSA Chair David Potack, Unitex, said the need for emergency planning will vary from company to company, depending on the number of plants and other factors. But in all cases, the process should begin with a discussion of contingency planning. “It really starts with a self-assessment: What’s my circumstance, what’s my ability to respond?” Potack said. “And really thinking it through and having those things lined up. I think that’s critical.”
Registration for the conference at the Salt Lake City Marriott City Center began at noon, and business got underway at the same time with a meeting of the Hygienically Clean Healthcare Advisory Board. This session featured a discussion of a range of operational and administrative issues related to the association’s certification program for laundry operators that provide textiles goods to hospitals, outpatient centers and other healthcare facilities. A second meeting of the Hygienically Clean Healthcare Users Group followed at 1:30 p.m. Additional attendees for the conference that’s expected to draw nearly 200 healthcare laundry professionals began arriving throughout the afternoon.
At 5 p.m., attendees began assembling in an adjacent room for a cocktail reception and an array of heavy hors d’oeuvres. The reception drew nearly 100 people. Their enthusiasm and camaraderie signaled that the 2017 TRSA Healthcare Conference was underway. A full schedule of educational, breakout sessions – plus a tour of a NOVO Health Services plant – are slated for the next two-and-a-half days before the conference concludes around 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16.