An announcement about the private contractor that will take over the laundry and linen services at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital is expected to be made soon.--NEWS PHOTO
A decision on the appointment of a private contractor to handle laundry services at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital is imminent.
On Oct. 23 Alberta Health Services issued a request for proposals for companies to submit bids for the contract, and said it would take about four months to make a decision based on the response.
“AHS is currently in the process of evaluating the RFPs. A successful proponent or proponents will be determined by early spring, 2021,” Kerry Williamson, communications for AHS, tells the News.
The switch to private contractors will take place across the province, affecting 428 full-time, part-time and casual AHS employees.
It is not clear how many will be affected at MHRH but a couple of years ago there were 25 people in full-time and part-time positions and 12 casual staff in the hospital laundry department.
AHS has said there may be employment opportunities for AHS staff with the new contractor.
In October, AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu said using a private contractor will eliminate risk that current outdated laundry infrastructure poses.
Four or five years ago AHS first talked of aging infrastructure in the laundry department at MHRH. Although no dollar amount was attached to the department locally, the NDP government revealed it would cost $200 million to upgrade aging public laundry facilities across the province.
AHS says more than two-thirds of laundry services are already contracted out. Contracting out of all laundry services will eliminate the need to spend more than $38 million in upgrades that would otherwise be immediately necessary to laundry infrastructure.
MHRH linen service includes the needs of the local hospital, Brooks, Bassano and Bow Island hospitals plus some local seniors’ residences, Home Care and the Medicine Hat Recovery Centre.
Accounting firm Ernst & Young’s review of AHS, released at the end of December 2019, stated AHS already outsources 68 per cent of linen services and there were six AHS regional processing plants and 44 dedicated on-site facilities.
