The Laundry Forum

[IronMan]

Does anyone have HLAC Accreditation? What are your views regarding accreditation? Why would you seek accreditation and why would you not?

[laundryman]

We are in the process of getting HLAC ready. I think it accomplishes quite a few things.
You follow some of the same standards for cleanliness as hospitals.
You end up with a nicer looking plant.
Much more organized presentations for hospitals.
And if you have a competitor that IS HLAC already, they can't say "that laundry must be dirty, there not accredited"!
Gotta keep up with the jones'

[Ira Ner]

It's the "right thing" to do. The HLAC is designed basically to keep government controls out of laundries. When you have a regulated industry the government will lean on the governing bodies not the companies following the regulations. (So it kind of acts as a "buffer" from the government.)

There is not anything in being HLAC compliant that you shouldn't be doing already. This helps you especially with some of the H.R, OSHA, and AAMI guideline "stuff."

Don't get me wrong. The process of going through HLAC is a little nerve racking. When the inspector asks an employee a question and your crossing your fingers and toes that the employee knows the answer.....You get the drift.

It also helps establish a rapport with hospital representatives because they can relate to the JACHO inspections and some of the stress involved.

There are always some processes that you put on the back burner or you forget about. I believe HLAC helps to support a safe, clean, and healthy work environment.

If you need any support feel free to contact me, and I will gladly share information to help get over the jitters of organizing the process.

[dowpin]

Our facility is HLAC accreditied. It is a plus in several ways. It sets standards for your plant that everyone has to follow instead of the countless meetings about what you should be doing and not doing. It makes a nice plus when you can show your customers and potential customers that you are following the same guidelines they are. It can be a bit nerve wracking when it is time for your inspection. But we believe it is well worth the stress of the inspection. (Besides if you are doing everything the right way it does not entail of lot of work just prior to the inspection.) As far as the employee answering questions. Well I have seen employees give answers that you know where out of left field just because they could. You can't stop that. Worry about what you can control.

[gonzo]

Well,if you have non-english speaking, even better! Great info guys!

[InTheWash]

I would like to know your thoughts on HLAC Accreditation for small retail medical laundries. I'm new to the industry, and only have a handful of medical accounts, but I have several surgical centers coming on-board in the next 6-8 months. I'm extremely familiar with the HLAC standards and inspection process, however I sometimes wonder if the fee should be based on revenues or some other benchmark. I think all the HLAC accredited laundries in Georgia do hospital work and are very large, established companies. How can small upstarts like myself compete with these laundries when the fee is the same? More and more medical facilities are supposedly asking if a laundry is accredited, but I can't but feel that these large, established, multi-million dollar laundries have a huge advantage, especially because the assumption, rightly or wrongly, is that if you are not accredited, your laundry probably is not safe to use.

I have gotten all my business from the large companies precisely because I am small and can effectively deliver customer service, which is I think is the most important issue in customers' minds. However, I'm not accredited, which in reality may have nothing to do with the safety of my laundry, the textiles I deliver, etc... It's entirely possible for an unaccredited laundry to live up to the HLAC standards, even exceed them, although I will admit that this would be very rare. Would various levels of accreditation be the answer?

Am I just totally wrong here? What are your thoughts?

[IronMan]

Smaller facilities should take less time to audit so I think you make a good point about the fees. How do you create isolation of soil and clean for infection control?

[InTheWash]

I am in a temporary facility as we are in the planning and design phase for a new laundry, but I use air flow and a physical barrier. Nothing fancy though.

[laundryman]

Thats all you need. Air flow is more important than physical.

[suds-n-blood]

If you do plan on becoming HLAC certified, apply quickly as the accrediation criteria will change beginning in 2012. Accordingly, the new rules will be a bit harder to meet. Don't delay!