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Sample book with community resources insert

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From humble beginnings as the Hendrick<br />

Medical Center laundry department operating<br />

out of the hospital basement, to today’s full-scale<br />

commercial laundry business servicing seventyfive<br />

facilities in a 250-mile radius, Texas<br />

Healthcare Linen (THL) is a great success story<br />

for Abilene.<br />

Built in 2011 as a partnership between<br />

Hendrick Medical Center, Midland Memorial<br />

Hospital and Medical Center Hospital in Odessa,<br />

THL was created to provide laundry and linen<br />

services specifically for healthcare facilities in the<br />

West Central Texas region. Today, THL ships<br />

nearly14 million pounds of clean linen annually<br />

from the 48,000 square-foot state-of-the-art<br />

facility on Arnold Boulevard.<br />

How? Specialized, automated equipment help the production<br />

team sort the soiled linen, wash it, and then fold the<br />

clean linen to be put back into carts and delivered to customers<br />

via transport truck. THL operates a fleet of seven<br />

trucks <strong>with</strong> eight CDL drivers to deliver clean linen and pick<br />

up soiled linen. Within the plant, an overhead rail system<br />

helps transport goods from one area to the next to minimize<br />

touchpoints and increase efficiency.<br />

THL’s industrial washers put out forty-four loads of linen<br />

per hour, and the industrial folding machines allow THL to<br />

ship out thousands of items per day, to the tune of 2.6 million<br />

flat sheets annually, just to give an example. Because of<br />

the high demand for goods, efficiency is important, which is<br />

why the production floor maintains an average productivity<br />

rate of 130 pounds per operator hour.<br />

THL’s service area spans over 400 miles from tip to tip and<br />

serves hospitals in Odessa, Lubbock, Greenville (DFW), San<br />

Angelo and almost everywhere in between. With a total<br />

employee base of more than seventy dedicated Abilenians,<br />

THL still has plans to continue expanding its customer base<br />

<strong>with</strong> a mission of providing the highest quality healthcare<br />

linen <strong>with</strong> exceptional service in the most responsible way.<br />

THL holds two certifications from the Textile Rental<br />

Service Association (TRSA). The Hygienically Clean certification<br />

ensures that the facility meets best management practices<br />

as verified by third-party inspection of the plant, as well<br />

as ongoing third-party bacteriological linen testing.<br />

THL also holds TRSA’s Clean Green certification, which<br />

recognizes laundries that demonstrate responsible leadership<br />

in sustainability and conservation. THL recycles its plastics<br />

and cardboard, reclaims heat where possible to be redistributed<br />

for creating steam, and uses state-of-the art equipment<br />

designed to conserve utilities and minimize waste.<br />

THL also gives back to the <strong>community</strong> by donating linens<br />

to various charities such as Love and Care Ministries, Baptist<br />

Social Ministries and the annual barbecue held for active and<br />

retired military.<br />

For additional information, visit their website at<br />

www.thlinen.com.<br />

TEXAS HEALTHCARE LINEN<br />

Above: The Texas Healthcare Linen clean side production floor includes an<br />

overhead rail system, which transports clean linens to operators who feed<br />

items into industrial folding machines. Once folded, the linen is put into<br />

transport carts to be shipped out to hospitals.<br />

Below: The 48,000 square-foot facility at 1349 North Arnold Boulevard in<br />

Abilene was completed in May 2011 and services hospitals all over the west<br />

central Texas region.<br />

THE MARKETPLACE<br />

181

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