Dirty laundry. It’s one of the most despised parts of veterinary medicine, especially if you have a pile of parvo diarrhea-laden blankets, reeking to high heaven.
If you don’t have a medical-grade laundry service, you – and your patients – may be better off tossing out those dirty blankets!
Most human hospitals outsource their laundry needs to services that follow CDC and EPA regulations regarding medical waste to reduce secondary infections, and infectious disease transmission, and eliminate potential biohazard exposure to their staff. As a veterinary practice, your team’s entire mission is to prevent illness and disease in your patients. Meanwhile, your linens are likely harboring pathogens, which can infect your patients, and counteract your practice’s goals.
What’s lurking in your laundry?
In a recent Colorado State University study, Dr. Lori Kogan tested clean clinic laundry and frequently found pathogen contamination.
Six pathogens commonly found in “clean” laundry include:
- MRSP
- MRSA
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Staphylococcus pseudintermedius
- Bacillus species
- Corynebacterium species
Most clinics assume their linens are clean and safe for pets right out of the dryer. However, clinic bedding is a breeding ground for bacteria, because in-clinic processes frequently cannot clean to a medically hygienic standard. The dirt may be removed, but the linens are far from hygienic. All your team’s hard work can be undone by a breach in infection control in the laundry room, so start treating laundry with the same attention to sanitation as you give surgical equipment.
The VSS veterinary laundry service difference
Here at Veterinary System Services, we are proud to be the first company to provide medical-grade laundry for the animal industry.
Rather than a typical commercial laundry service, we hold ourselves to a higher standard when servicing veterinary practices. Most commercial laundry facilities do not put the same barriers in place to prevent contamination, or use cleaning agents specifically for working with animals, but we follow the CDC and OSHA’s guidelines for medical laundry, in addition to adhering to AAHA standards, so now you have one less task.
We ensure that we maintain human hospital-grade hygienic standards to keep your patients safe, by subjecting our clean linens to monthly, third-party testing for contamination. Other commercial laundry services do not have the cleaning agents rated for leptospirosis or parvovirus, or understand the risks if linens infected with these highly contagious pathogens are not thoroughly sanitized. When you use the VSS laundry service, you can trust your linens to be safe enough for use in human oncology and immune-mediated disease wards, which makes our service ideal for cushioning your chemotherapy patients, or that precious kitty who is suffering from feline leukemia.
Benefits of a medical-grade laundry service
Delegating your laundry duties to a specialized facility that adheres to stringent cleanliness standards takes a lot off your team’s plate, along with easing the worry for potential disease transmission through unhygienic linens. Other benefits of employing our veterinary laundry service include:
- Biosecurity peace of mind — You can rest assured that your laundry is cleaned and sanitized to human hospital-grade standards.
- Additional space — Eliminating an overflowing laundry room opens up more space for patients and procedures.
- Patient care time — Staff have more time for patient care when never-ending laundry duties are eliminated.
- Laundry cost savings — Costly repair bills or sky-high utility bills will no longer litter your desk, plus you’re not paying your technicians to fold blankets instead of caring for patients.
- Improved employee morale — Your veterinary technicians did not undertake schooling to do laundry. When your team focuses on patient care and typical job duties, morale and job satisfaction increases.
Why your practice should consider VSS laundry services
No other commercial laundry service—except those who cater to human hospitals—has our intense focus on cleanliness standards. We are dedicated to ensuring your patients receive medically hygienic linens that receive the same attention to sanitation as your surgical instruments. Consider VSS for your veterinary laundry services for the following reasons:
- No deposit — We require no deposit to set up your account.
- No commitment — You can discontinue your service at any time.
- Stringent cleanliness standards — Our laundering facility follows CDC, EPA, and OSHA guidelines for human hospital laundry.
- Cost-effective — VSS provides hospital-grade laundering at a much lower cost than most hospital laundry services.
- Zero liability — Our veterinary laundry service is licensed, fully insured, and monitored by an independent, third-party laboratory.
- Proven track record — VSS has been providing exceptional services to Colorado veterinary practices for more than five years.
- Industry-leading customer service — We pride ourselves on providing the absolute best customer service to our clients.
Pets are part of the family, and your clients demand the best for their furry family members. You wouldn’t want to offer your beloved family member a less-than-sanitary bed, right? With our veterinary laundry service, you – and your patients – can rest assured their bedding is not only dirt-free, but also medically hygienic.
Is your dirty laundry piling up? Perhaps your entire team is tired of tackling endless loads of laundry. Whatever the reason, VSS is here to help.
Contact us for a free consultation about our veterinary laundry services.