Local TV Highlights Century Linen’s Work for Hospitals

Healthcare workers nationwide are celebrated as heroes these days because of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The “backstage” role played by laundry operators tends to get overlooked in this drama, but a local TV news outlet serving Gloversville, NY, saw fit to recognize the contributions of locally based Century Linen and Uniform for its processing of healthcare linens, including textiles used by COVID-19 patients.

Century Linen CEO Richard Smith told a reporter from ABC NEWS 10 Gloversville, that his plant is currently processing roughly 500,000 lbs. per week of healthcare linens. Speaking of his staff, who launder scrubs and gowns as well as bed and bath linens for hospitals, he said, “These people who work here, I consider them to be heroes.”

Smith added that he’s acutely aware of the risks that employees could encounter in dealing with contaminated healthcare textiles and has taken all necessary precautions to safeguard his staff by providing them with personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks, shields and shoe covers. That PPE is especially critical now because the demand for Century Linen’s services is extremely strong, particularly for healthcare garments. “Scrub suits and isolation gowns are flying in and out of here,” Smith said. “We can hardly keep up with those.”

To ensure that processing kills any microorganism on the textiles, Century Linen washes these items at 165° F, using chlorine bleach and laundry chemicals that are certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Trucks also are sanitized to ensure that no microorganisms remain that could contaminate clean linens going back to hospitals. “We just installed an ultraviolet light sanitizer for our trucks and trailers in addition to us cleaning them out with germicides and mopping,” Smith said. Click here to view or read the full article.