IHA moving ahead with privatization of laundry services

Posted on February 11, 2015 in City // 3 Comments

NEWS/ IHA —The Interior Health Authority is moving ahead with a plan to privatize its laundry services, putting out a request for proposals from pre-qualified service providers.

Alan Davies.

The plan is aimed at saving the costs of updating laundry equipment.

“We know this is difficult news for our employees who have worked hard to make our laundry plants efficient,” said Alan Davies, IHA’s director for support services, today, Wednesday.

“But as we’ve noted from the outset, the decision to explore alternatives isn’t about the efficiency of our operations. It’s about avoiding future significant spending to replace aging equipment, an investment we can’t make when considering other health-care medical equipment priorities.”

IHA staff provide laundry services at five large and six small laundry sites throughout the health region. They offer linen services to hospitals, health centres and IHA-owned and operated residential care facilities.

Staff were notified of the update today, which will be followed by 90 days of consultation with the Hospital Employees Union to explore alternatives.

“We have stressed to our employees that nothing is changing today,” said Davies. “We have a lengthy process in front of us, and the earliest we would anticipate any changes to laundry services would be spring 2016.”

One hundred full-time and 75 casual jobs — 15 at Royal Inland Hospital — could be affected.

IHA is moving ahead with the RFS — Request for Solutions — along with Lower Mainland health authorities.

Interior Health Authority

Doug McKee // February 13, 2015 at 4:01 PM // Reply

I presume these laid off workers have bumping rights & could wind up in Housekeeping, Dietary, maintenance or groundskeeping.

LikeLike

LAWRENCE BEATON // February 12, 2015 at 8:25 PM // Reply

Yup, IHA eliminate the RIH laundry staff, save money, give it to a private company. Don’t spend a single moment thinking about the 175 or thereabouts who will out of a job. Add this to the fact that the hospital is in some occasions, overcrowded, patients are sent home to soon. Some doctors don’t time to do appropriate assessments of patients or refuse to do them, and you are part of that great system called the WCB, who like yourselves act like demi-gods in your crystal palaces as the real world grimly marches by your windows, mostly in Kelowna.