In late October, NOVO Health Services announced that its CEO David Stern would step down, with Karl Fillip II succeeding him on Nov. 1. In an interview with this columnist, Stern confirmed that he’s retiring from healthcare. He said he’ll continue serving as CEO of Paris Uniform Service, the industrial division of his company that wasn’t part of the merger of Paris Cos.’ healthcare textile business with NOVO in January 2020.

The irony of this changing of the guard is that most observers credit Stern with playing a critical role in growing the healthcare laundry sector for commercial operators during ...