New Facility Takes Laundry High-Tech

The Duke University Health System is preparing to unveil a new $14 million, 60,000-square-foot laundry facility with the capacity to clean more than 30 tons of laundry each day.

The new Duke Laundry, located in an industrial park at 4 Anson St., is designed to increase efficiency, keep costs down and improve working conditions for employees, thanks in part to state-of-the-art computerized technologies. The facility officially begins operating on Monday, July 16, bringing all laundry generated by the health system's three hospitals - Duke Hospital, Durham Regional Hospital and Raleigh Community Hospital - under one roof.

The facility will replace separate laundry facilities operated by Duke Medical Center on the Gattis Street extension and at the Durham Regional Hospital campus. Raleigh Community Hospital currently contracts with an outside firm for laundry services. Health system officials have not yet decided what will be done with the older facilities, which will remain vacant for the time being.

Newer pieces of equipment currently in use at the existing Duke and Durham facilities will be transported to the new facility on Anson Street, while the older equipment will be sold to a broker that specializes in selling used industrial laundry equipment.

The new facility is expected to save $400,000 a year in expenses, said Shane W. Woodson, the health system's director of hospital linen services who was brought in two years ago to oversee the design and construction of the new building.

Kerry Watson, senior associate chief operating officer for Duke Hospital, said the health system wanted to accomplish several important objectives with the new laundry facility.

"We wanted to build a state-of-the-art facility; provide a comfortable work environment that maximizes staff productivity and promote a sense of organizational pride; as well as reinforce the organization's commitment to team and individual growth and development; and provide an environmentally friendly facility that helps protect the health and welfare of the at-large community," he said. "I think we have accomplished all of these objectives in this new laundry facility."

To keep up with increasing demands, the health system laundry needed to process 30 percent more linen per day than the existing facility was able to clean. Meanwhile, Durham Regional also was facing the possibility of spending thousands of dollars on badly needed new equipment. The new laundry will initially operate at 40 percent capacity, allowing for substantial future growth, Woodson said.

Duke Laundry will have the capacity to process 61,000 pounds of linen per day, which compares to 19,000 pounds at the old Duke laundry and approximately 10,000 pounds at Durham Regional Hospital's laundry. Raleigh Community has outsourced approximately 3,000 pounds per day.

The automation and computerized features allow the operation to accomplish more with fewer workers, Woodson said. Of the 64 employees currently employed at the Duke and Durham Regional laundry facilities, 52 will work for Duke Laundry and the others will be reassigned to other positions within the health system.

The new facility also will improve the working conditions for its employees, Woodson said. Working in a laundry can be strenuous. Missed days of work and worker compensation claims, most of which are related to on-the-job back injuries, currently total approximately $50,000 annually at the Duke Laundry.

Now the need to lift laundry bags has practically been eliminated from jobs at the new laundry, where automated machines will do most of the heavy lifting. To help reduce strain and fatigue, the designers have arranged each work station to meet or exceed ergonomic standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Other worker safety and convenience features include:

• Air conditioning at individual workstations to maintain comfortable room temperatures.
• Sensors to detect radioactive medical materials that may have mistakenly fallen in a laundry cart.
• Mechanically operated truck bays.
• An air-conditioned lunchroom, complete with vending machines, outdoor eating areas and a personal computer for employees.
• Shower for employees.

The new facility is equipped with two 2,500-gallon and three 1,500-gallon chemical storage tanks as opposed to the current method of storing chemicals in 55-gallon tanks. It's also an environmentally friendly design, complete with two 48-foot long tunnel washers that can process 3,900 pounds of linen per hour, officials said.

"The tunnels reuse the rinse water, making them the most energy-efficient systems available at 1.2 gallons of water per pound of linen processed -- compared to conventional washing at 3 gallons per pound for most and up to 4 gallons for home style washing machines," Woodson said.