As some 76 million baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) reach retirement age, it’s widely anticipated that demand for nursing home services will expand geometrically in the next few years. Many laundry operators in healthcare and other commercial sectors have targeted in-house nursing home laundries for outsourcing, particularly the processing of flatwork goods, but in some cases patient apparel as well. The idea is to add business, while enabling nursing home managers to reallocate staff and budget resources to patient care and food services at these institutions.

This trend could deliver a win-win for both laundries and nursing homes ...