TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci recently submitted comments on the importance of reusable personal protective equipment (PPE) to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) as part of the committee’s request for information on policies that the committee should consider during the reauthorization process for the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). The act is due to be reauthorized before the end of this fiscal year.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Members Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) recently released a Request for Information (RFI) in preparation of the upcoming Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) reauthorization due by Sept. 30. After shortages in supply at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, TRSA has led the effort to make reusable isolation gowns and other textiles more prominent in hospital inventories under PAHPA and provided the committee with information supporting this position.

A recent case study on Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service noted that the operator saved Ontario taxpayers $70 million during the first 24 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a time of widespread shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), Ecotex was able to supply hospitals in the Greater Toronto area with AAMI Level II rated reusable barrier isolation gowns.

Unitex International Inc., Duluth, GA, recently announced that Cintas Corp. has honored the textile manufacturer with a “Platinum Level Quality Performance Supplier” award for fiscal year 2022, according to a news release.

Additional recent headlines from consumer media of interest to linen, uniform and facility services operators, and especially readers of Textile Services Weekly.

Several TRSA members are back serving customers in the areas impacted by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that made landfall in the Fort Myers, FL, area packing devastating 150-mile-per-hour winds.

JENSEN USA celebrated on Oct. 5 the reopening of its Panama City, FL, facility that was severely damaged by Hurricane Michael. The reopening of the expanded 120,000-square-foot facility was five days shy of the storm’s fourth anniversary.

When Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico on Sept. 17, island residents, including Michael Shulevitz, president of Cadillac Services in suburban San Juan, were braced for devastation on the scale of a previous storm, Hurricane Maria, which struck in September 2017. It was bad, but not that bad, says Shulevitz, in part because company leaders have learned from past experience how to deal with severe weather events.

Additional recent headlines from consumer media of interest to linen, uniform and facility services operators, and especially readers of Textile Services Weekly.

During the night of May 5, a severe storm caused unprecedented flooding at Superior Linen Service’s Muskogee, OK, facility and the local surrounding area, according to a news release.