Solutions - HCA - Coppel, TX
"We chose Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Company because they offered the best solutions to our needs and had the most proven experience with Automated CBW® Systems."
“Same Laundry, 1/3 the Water” was the theme of HCA North Texas Laundry’s open house grand opening. HCA North Texas Division Shared Laundry Service opened the doors to its State of the Art 38,000 square foot laundry in Coppell, TX in January, 2006. The laundry first began its operations in a strip mall in 1999 which was located in Bedford, TX. They started serving seven hospitals in the surrounding area and had to operate their laundry 24 hours a day to meet production needs.

“Our original laundry had very low ceilings, no automation and no utility saving equipment” says Rod Gallimore, EVS/Laundry/Linen Coordinator of the HCA Laundry. “We originally opened the laundry in 1999 as kind of a test site for HCA to make sure that we could handle the task at hand. We proved to HCA we could serve their linen needs successfully, but knew we could not continue to operate our equipment around the clock with no downtime. In 2004, we started planning a state of the art laundry that could handle our current task with room for growth.”

“The new laundry in Coppell was my dream” says recently retired Rod Gallimore. “I wanted HCA to have a show case laundry and that is exactly what we achieved.” Brian Allen, HCA’s current Laundry Manager says that “Labor and utility savings were key factors in our decision making process in choosing an equipment supplier. We chose Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Company because they offered the best solutions to our needs and had the most proven experience with Automated CBW® Systems.”

The 38,000 square foot facility now operates in an extended single shift, six days a week while handling two additional hospitals and surgery centers for HCA. HCA North Texas now processes linen for a total of nine hospitals and two surgery centers.

HCA North Texas began working with Scott McClure of Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Company in 2004 in developing and designing their new laundry. In 2005, Brian and Rod found the perfect building for their new laundry that is located across the street from HCA’s supply chain. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Rod and Brian on bringing their dreams to fruition” says Scott McClure of Pellerin Laundry. “In designing a laundry, our goal is to offer the best solution to the customer’s needs. Labor and utility costs were key concerns of HCA. The fully automated laundry now boasts labor and utility savings in excess of $ 1,000,000.00 over their Bedford facility. The new facility is definitely a success and I am proud to have been a part of this partnership.”

HCA also utilized and were extremely satisfied with the services of Turn-Key Industrial Engineering and The ARCO-Murray Company to turn their building into a laundry. These services included MEP Permit Drawings, demolition and re-fabrication of walls throughout the facility, trenching, utility supply and connection infrastructure, final utility and ducting connections to all of the facility’s laundry equipment, HVAC spot cooling and professional supervision throughout the renovation and installation.

HCA North Texas Laundry primarily consists of Milnor Washing /Drying Equipment, Chicago Flatwork and Full Dry Equipment and an E-Tech Soil and Clean Materials Handling System. The Milnor equipment includes: 2 Milnor 150 lb. capacity, 8 Module 76039 model CBW® Washers, 2 Milnor MP 1603CL Single Stage Presses, 2 Milnor COLFQ112 Two Tier Elevating Storage Conveyors, a COSHQ Two Tier Shuttle Conveyor, 6 Milnor 64058 Gas Dryers, 2 Milnor MLG-175 gas dryers, a Milnor Mildata® Production Management System and two Milnor Lint Collectors. The Chicago Equipment includes a Pic Quik Sheet Separating System, King Edge Feeder, a 2 Roll 52 Powerhouse Thermal Ironer and a 2 Roll 52 Century Steam Ironer, Chicago Skyline Folders, four Air Chicago Towel and Gown Folders, a Chicago Blanket Blaster System and two Chicago Mini Blanket and Knitted Fitted Sheet Folders. The E-Tech System consists of a fully automated “sort on rail” soil side rail delivery system and fully automated clean side rail system all controlled by E-Tech’s RailPro Computer Management System.

The Laundry also has a fully automated Felins Tying System, a Kemco Heat Reclamation System, a Williams & Davis Boiler and an Ingersoll-Rand air compressor system.

With the assistance of E-Tech, the Milnor CBW Washers and the Felins Automatic Tying Systems the hospital goods are basically handled two times before being
placed on a make-up cart to be shipped back to the hospitals. The goods are hand- sorted into the E-Tech Soil Rail System (1st touch), automatically delivered to one of two Milnor CBW Systems, automatically dried and discharged into the E-Tech Clean Rail System, automatically delivered to one of seven clean side drop stations, hand fed into either a Chicago Ironer or Folder (2nd touch), automatically discharged onto a Felins conveyor system with traffic control, automatically tied into bundles and made ready to be placed on a make-up cart.

“Labor is one of the highest operation cost incurred by a laundry. Simply put, the more an operator has to handle the linen during processing, the more the operating cost will be. By offering complete automation, the new HCA Laundry Facility is able to maintain a POH in the 140-170 range. The employees barely handle the linen.” says Scott McClure of Pellerin Laundry.

HCA’s North Texas Division is centrally located and their entire customer base is within 30 miles of their facility. They are currently operating with less than 35 production FTEs. At the old plant, before installing the Milnor tunnels they had up to 70+ FTEs. As a result, they’ve achieved substantial labor savings. They also experience increased employee retention and morale due to the increased automation.

With the national average of rewash rates being 4-6%, HCA is ahead of the curve with a rewash rate of 2-3%. They use about 1.9 gallons of water per pound of goods which includes the whole laundry not just their tunnels. The water used in the washing process went from about 3 gal/ lb. to 1 gal/ lb. They’ve achieved a 66% savings in water consumption.

HCA is also pleased with their Mildata® Computer Network. Mildata®, Milnor’s Computer Management Systems for Laundries and Textile Plants is used to trouble shoot their tunnels and dryers and determine ways to improve their efficiencies. They find the system easy to use as it provides the ability to monitor the operations of their facility through automatically printed reports that they were able to tailor to their specific needs. This type of information is vital to determining efficiency of the laundry’s ability to achieve savings in water, energy, and labor consumption.

Brian Allen, HCA North Texas Plant Manager noted that, “Since the addition of the Milnor CBW® tunnels, even employee morale has increased because all parts of the laundry are working well together. The automated loading is much easier on our employees and is much less physically demanding on them. Thanks to Pellerin Laundry we’ve created a much better working environment for our employees.”

HCA, the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services, is composed of locally managed facilities that include approximately 182 hospitals and 94 outpatient surgery centers in 22 states, England and Switzerland. At its founding in 1968, Nashville based HCA was one of the nation’s first hospital companies. HCA’s Mission and Vision is “Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. In recognition of this commitment, we strive to deliver high quality, cost effective healthcare in the communities we serve.” HCA North Texas Division Support Services, Rod Gallimore, EVS/Laundry/Linen Coordinator.