Country Terrace to expand in-house laundry service
Monday March 3, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
OMNI Health Care’s newest home will soon start washing and drying its bed linen, towels and face cloths, thanks to a recent financial injection from home office to help the home purchase new equipment.

For several years, the London-area long-term care home has had its bed linen and bath towels washed and dried by London Hospital Linen Service Inc., because the home didn’t have the equipment to handle a large-scale laundry service.

With new equipment in place, there is no longer a need to outsource any of the home’s laundry services. Starting March 3, Country Terrace will be expanding its laundry services.

This means that in addition to cleaning personal clothes, coupled with the nutritional care and environmental services departments’ linens, the home will now be in charge of washing and drying bedding and towels.

Alex Sutherland, the home’s environmental services manager, says his team is happy about the change.

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity of doing it all on-site,” he says. “(An in-house service) was attempted about 10 years ago but we didn’t have the right equipment.

“With the investment that OMNI has made in new equipment I’m very optimistic that the problems that we had 10 years ago will be eliminated.”

Like other OMNI long-term care homes, the 120-bed Country Terrace has a linen-folding program for residents who wish to participate. Presently, there are two residents who take part in the program.

While Sutherland notes it’s too early to say whether or not the folding program will attract more residents once the laundry service is expanded, he says the current program, which has been in place for many years, is working well.

The program, he adds, benefits residents on a physical and emotional level.

“It’s good for small muscle control therapy and it keeps them busy,” he says.

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