Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine and Livonia, Mich.-based St. Joseph Mercy Health System have formed a joint venture to establish a $48 million medical laundry service facility in Detroit.
The 105,000-square-foot facility, slated to be complete by spring 2020, will be designed to accommodate 78 million pounds of healthcare linens every year for all three health systems. It will include about 180 employees, of which 100-plus will be new hires. Additionally, it will include automated technology and use environmentally-friendly products.
The laundry facility will be owned and operated by the Metropolitan Detroit Area Hospital Service, a nonprofit that all three health systems are a part of.
Henry Ford Health and St. Joseph Mercy Health have operated a shared laundry facility via Metropolitan Detroit Area Hospital Service for 40 years, but the equipment and infrastructure is now aging. Similarly, the facility Michigan Medicine was using is also too old for future use.
"By sharing a centralized laundry service, our partnership demonstrates how health care institutions can work together to achieve efficiencies and spur economic renewal," said Bob Riney, president of healthcare operations and COO at Henry Ford Health. "We're committed to doing our part to continue to reinvest in Detroit and the communities we serve throughout southeast Michigan."