Kleen Inc. closed its West Lebanon, N.H.-based plant June 28 with less than two weeks' notice, forcing over a dozen hospitals in Vermont and New Hampshire to find a quick solution to obtaining clean linens, according to VTDigger.org.
Vermont and New Hampshire hospital officials met via conference call in the week of June 24-28 to discuss solutions and decided each hospital would have to find its own linen vendor, according to Brian Olsen, director of support services at Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center. The linen services are crucial to preventing disease.
Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vt., rented a mobile laundry trailer and began paying employees and part-time staff to wash about 6,000 pounds of laundry per week starting July 1. Other hospitals found new providers, but they say the services are more costly than Kleen's.
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