HLAC ANNOUNCES BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 2009
More than 55 laundries have received accreditation

FAIRWAY, KS, 1/06/09 — At its December board meeting in Chicago, the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) announced its 2009 Board of Directors. In addition, it was noted that more than 55 laundries laundries have received accreditation  HLAC’s mission is to publish high standards for laundering healthcare textiles, and to provide an inspection and accreditation process that recognizes those laundries that meet these high standards. The decision to become accredited is completely voluntary.

2009 Board of Directors
HLAC’s officers for 2009 are Chairperson Judy Reino, Vice Chairperson Patti Costello and Secretary/Treasurer Rick Kislia. The HLAC board of directors includes: Nancy Bjerke, Brad Bushman, Linda Fairbanks, Bob Pfeifer, Sandra Hensley, Ed McCauley,Woody Ostrow and Lynne Sehulster, PhD,M(ASCP), and David Stern.

“We have an excellent board of directors and I look forward to growing HLAC with their assistance,” says Chairperson Judy Reino of Reino Linen, Gibsonburg, Ohio. “Reino Linen was the first laundry to become accredited back in April 2006 and will be the first laundry to seek re-accreditation in 2009. “We believe accreditation will become an industry standard for healthcare laundries,” says Reino.

“Seeking accreditation requires some work, but if you form a team, follow HLAC’s guidelines and tackle the process in a logical way, you can pass the inspection. It’s all about documenting safety, training and processing procedures.

“If we want to increase the use of reusable textiles and grow our businesses, it’s important to increase the professionalism of what we do,” she says.

Why Accreditation?
The primary benefit of accreditation is that an independent third party has inspected your facility and found that it meets or exceeds the highest standards for processing healthcare textiles. A laundry cannot inspect and accredit itself and its customers generally do not have the time or expertise to conduct inspections.

The following associations support the Council and are represented on the HLAC Board of Directors.

• Association for Linen Management (ALM)
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
• American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA)
• American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services (ASHES)
• International Association for Healthcare Textile Management (IAHTM)
• Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA)

• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Department of Veteran’s Affairs
• U.S. Army Medical Command

For more information on HLAC and the benefits of accreditation, visit www.hlacnet.org or email Tinker at kathytinker@sbcglobal.net.

Contact: Nancy Jenkins @ 913-432-6177 or nancy@jenkinsim.com