Teamwork in the Face of a Tornado; NOVO's Nashville-area Linen Processing Plant Secures HLAC Accreditation Following a Natural Disaster.

The NOVO Health Services plant in Madison, Tenn., just outside Nashville, announced it has earned HLAC accreditation again this year. The nonprofit Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC), inspects and accredits facilities that process reusable textiles for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare establishments. Its accreditation is based on "the highest, professionally recognized standards for patient safety and infection prevention." Plants that process healthcare linens and receive HLAC accreditation like many of NOVO's facilities demonstrate a "commitment to excellence, and certification adds that extra stamp of validation that guarantees the highest hygiene and safety standards."

This year's accreditation from HLAC is especially sweet as the Nashville-area plant faced a natural disaster and its aftermath less than a month before its inspection. On December 9th of last year, the plant and surrounding area were struck by a tornado. A tractor trailer at the plant was tipped over, a few carts in the soil area were flipped on their sides, and several trees had fallen including three that fell onto the adjacent street. Luckily, the NOVO facility experienced only minor damage, and no one on-site was injured, but the plant was left without power.

"We were extremely fortunate to not have damage like several of the buildings around us did," remembers See Lor, Operations Manager for the Madison plant. "Several of the businesses on our street suffered major damage or total destruction."

When the area was under a tornado warning, all team members on-site were accounted for and were moved to the facility's breakroom that also serves as the plant's tornado shelter. All stayed in the area until they were given the all clear and the storm had passed. The facility then secured a generator and some lights, and other nearby NOVO plants sent backup supplies and linens so they could continue to fulfill that day's orders. By the second night after the storm, they were able to hook up three generators and get the plant up and running at 50%.

The joint efforts by Lor, her second shift supervisor Apple Young, Denisha Woodard (Lead), and Floyd Fondren (Scale Tech) were instrumental in not only keeping all employees safe, but in filling all remaining orders for that weekend to ensure their customers had no interruption in service.

The Madison plant received its HLAC accreditation on January 5th, less than one month after the storm. NOVO Health Services is especially proud of the team in Madison for its leadership and dedication in the face of a natural disaster, and the commitment of all its facilities to infection prevention and patient comfort. For more information on NOVO Health Services and its commitment to excellence in healthcare linen management, please visit www.NOVOhealthservices.com.

NOVO's New Miami Linen Processing Plant Continues to Flourish, Adding HLAC Certification to Its Most Recent Achievements

Certification from the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) is one of the most coveted achievements in the healthcare linen processing industry. And when the facility has zero observations requiring remediation after its first inspection, it acknowledges an even higher level of performance.

The NOVO Health Services Miami Gardens, Fla., plant did just that, passing its initial inspection on January 25th with flying colors. The plant is NOVO's newest, state-of-the-art facility and is managed by Dragan Grabovac.

"Our team is incredibly proud to be recognized by HLAC for its hard work and its commitment to best practices for our industry," said Grabovac. "Receiving this recognition on our first inspection is such a great accomplishment, and one we don't take lightly. As part of the NOVO family, our team's commitment to excellence shows in our level of operational efficiency and customer care, and it is a great feeling to be recognized for our efforts." 

HLAC certification focuses on laundry organizations that process reusable linens for the healthcare industry, and it requires they pass inspection for the facility, its policies and procedures, training programs offered and available to employees, and its relationships with its customers. Accreditation from HLAC confirms a facility meets or exceeds the highest hygiene and safety standards for the industry.

NOVO Health Services is widely recognized as one of the leading linen management companies for the healthcare industry. Due to NOVO’s commitment to HLAC accreditation, NOVO's healthcare customers and their patients can remain confident that all linen processing is done in a manner consistent with industry best practices, ensuring hygienically clean linens to prevent infection and protect both patients and staff. For more information on NOVO Health Services and its facilities, please visit www.NOVOhealthservices.com. 

NOVO Health Services Acquires EcoBrite Linen, Invests in Expansion of Chicago-area Healthcare Linen and Laundry Services

Atlanta, GA — December 5, 2023 — NOVO Health Services, the healthcare industry's leading linen management company that puts patients first, today announced the acquisition of EcoBrite Linen, Chicagoland’s premier provider of healthcare linen and laundry services for long-term and acute care facilities.

The acquisition marks NOVO's investment in EcoBrite's leadership and its customer-centric approach to healthcare linen services, with the goal of expansion in the market.

"This is an exciting time for NOVO and for EcoBrite," said Karl Fillip II, President and CEO of NOVO Health Services. "We both have a common goal of improving the patient and resident experience, and together, with the team already in place at EcoBrite, we can service more healthcare facilities throughout the Chicagoland area."

EcoBrite was founded in 2015 to provide an outsourced laundry solution for the long-term care industry. While most hospitals in Northern Illinois outsourced their laundry at that time, less than 5% of nursing homes outsourced. EcoBrite was launched to fill that void and offer turn-key healthcare linen and laundry service for nursing homes and hospitals at a lower cost than other competitors or on-premise laundry options. EcoBrite developed several proprietary technologies that ultimately resulted in improved service levels, higher customer satisfaction, and lower overall costs. The success generated by these technologies at EcoBrite’s long-term care facilities quickly translated into expansion into the acute care hospital market which drove 8 consecutive years of growth for EcoBrite.

"We've been impressed with the management team at EcoBrite and know this will be a great partnership," added Fillip. "EcoBrite's focus is on efficiency, consistency and higher quality control mirror those of NOVO, and we look forward to helping expand the reach of EcoBrite throughout the region.”

“We are truly honored to become part of NOVO,” said Brian Polatsek, founder of EcoBrite Linen. "I look forward to the melding of our disruptive approach with the industry’s best to create something spectacular."

About NOVO Health Services

As one of the healthcare industry's leading linen management companies, NOVO Health Services continuously strives to help its customers improve the patient experience. It is the only “one-stop shop” service provider in the U.S. currently serving all healthcare-related end markets with both healthcare laundry services as well as sterilized reusable surgical solutions. With headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., NOVO’s regional facilities across the U.S. are all HLAC accredited, TRSA Hygienically Clean certified, or FDA registered, and all operate with state-of-the-art processing equipment and procedures. NOVO keenly focuses on safety and infection control and provides its partner hospitals with a value-driven program that eliminates excess internal costs. For more information, please visit https://www.novohealthservices.com.

The DuBois, Pa., plant became part of the NOVO Health Services family in January of 2020. Like all NOVO facilities, the DuBois plant is accredited by the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) and is a TRSA hygienically clean certified processing facility (the not-for-profit trade association for the Linen, Uniform and Facility Services Industry). In fact, TRSA named the DuBois its plant of the year for 2021.

At 61,600 square feet, the DuBois facility processes close to 42 million pounds of laundry each year. While it is known for its customer service, the plant is also known for the employment opportunities it provides throughout the community and the advancement it supports from within the organization.

"The maintenance department has an extremely robust training program that takes production associates and grows them into highly skilled laundry industrial maintenance technicians," said Tim Ryan, general manager of the NOVO Health Services DuBois Plant. "Additionally, the leadership team – from our operations manager down to the supervisors – all started working hourly roles and then progressed within the company."

The DuBois facility also supports many in the community who may need a second chance. "We have a work release program that provides jobs to inmates to help them pay fines or child support, and we offer them jobs and cash to help restart their lives once they are out of jail," added Ryan. "The special features of this plant are its commitment to upskilling its workers and providing second chances."

Like all NOVO facilities, the DuBois plant focuses on linen sterilization and infection prevention. Its overhead rail systems, tunnels, presses, and shuttles contribute to the efficiency offered by the plant the minute laundry arrives, and automation is one of the biggest keys to the consistency the facility provides.

Once employees sort the soiled laundry, it is transferred via conveyor belts, mechanically bagged, and transported via an internal rail system that then drops the laundry in one of three tunnel washing machines where the temperature reaches 160 degrees, and all linens are cleaned with hydrogen peroxide. After it is washed and then transferred via the rail conveyor belt, the laundry then goes into dryers that reach up to 390 degrees. Once dry, the linens are then fed through irons that reach 350 degrees. The plant has the ability to sort, launder, dry, fold and ship laundry back to customers in under four hours. In addition, the plant's textile management system allows its healthcare customers to monitor cost per patient, performance data, and real-time tracking to reduce costs.

Another attractive feature to its customers is the DuBois team's knowledge of how linen departments are run in hospitals. "They have a unique advantage to seeing dozens of different ways various hospitals keep linen in their patients’ rooms," Ryan said. "They have seen and are familiar with issues in the industry and they have the answer on how to fix it because they’ve observed it done well and have the expertise to help our customers. Our service department is one of the main reasons our customers choose to work with us."

When asked if there was a department he would recognize, Ryan said he could not choose. "I would be hard pressed to pick one department," he said. "We have lots of hardworking people and we are proud to be part of the NOVO organization."

The NOVO Ravenna plant, formerly a Paris Healthcare Linen Services facility, was built from the ground up in Ravenna, Ohio. The original 50,000 sq. ft. plant was completed in February of 2004 when it was recognized as one of the leading, state-of-the-art laundries in North America. It featured a new Futurail system from JENSEN-GROUP as well as Milnor tunnels and Braun finishing equipment, and Arco Murray was the building designer, now a household name in the laundry industry. The facility expanded in 2016 to its current size of 67,500 sq. ft., and the plant became part of the NOVO Health Services family in January of 2020.

At that time, NOVO invested in an advanced soil sort system from ETECH that was commissioned in 2021 and can process more than 18,000 lbs. of laundry per hour, or as much as 110,000 lbs. in one 8-hour shift. Today the Ravenna plant can process up to 46 million lbs. of laundry each year.

Of the 253 Ravenna team members, 78 have been with the company more than 5 years, and 43 of those have been with the company over 10 years. Like many of the NOVO facilities, the Ravenna plant focuses on building its talent and has promoted team members from within the organization to hold 11 of the 15 management positions that run the facility.

The Ravenna management team's strength lies in not only its industry knowledge, but its experience and the customer relationships several employees have built over close to 20 years on staff. The Ravenna plant prides itself on the dedication its staff have for the facility, their fellow team members, the industry, and most important – their healthcare customers and their patients.

"I would like to recognize the management team including our HRM Lisa Hawkins and Stacey Wright from our main office – both of whom have been with our company for more than 19 years," said Drew Canavan, Director of Operations (North) for NOVO. "Additionally, I'd like to recognize our Office Manager Jan Bland (18 years), our Specialty Supervisor Stacy Sawastuk (18 years), General Manager John Garoiu (14 years), our Chief Bob Lattimer (15 years), our Operations Manager Jeff Kolt (15 years), and Vince Dozanti, our maintenance supervisor (15 years) – all of whom have dedicated 15+ years to our organization and the customers we serve."

"The other group I have to recognize is our CRMs," Canavan added. "For as many pounds as we ship, they all do a phenomenal job. They have incredibly strong relationships with their customers which has allowed us to grow over all of these years."

The Ravenna management team is most proud of the length of service and retention of strong team members that prove the facility is focused on not only their healthcare customers and their patients, but all NOVO employees.

As noted by Canavan, "I think our growth is the best mark of our success, and the tenure of our staff shows that we are doing it the right way. Every day is a new challenge and an opportunity for a new success, and we are proud to represent the NOVO brand.”  

In addition to its commitment to its customers, the NOVO Ravenna plant supports several area charities and community organizations, and works closely with "Ohio Means Jobs," which helps connect individuals with jobs in their area.

Thank you to the Ravenna team for representing NOVO Health Services in such a positive way and for being such an important part of the NOVO family!