We often hear how the outpatient side of healthcare, the Medical Office Building business—fueled by tech advances that are reducing the need for long hospital stays—is outpacing the growth of acute-care hospitals. But the flip side of the equation is that at the same time, consolidation is leading to more large healthcare groups that include both outpatient and acute-care facilities. The latter are by no means going away.

Brad and Greg Shames, president and director of operations, respectively of Medico Healthcare Linen Service, South Gate, CA, saw the implications of this changing healthcare business model—driven in part by the implementation ...