November 2013
| Business World Magazine | 103
conventionally used in OR processes. Lark
anticipates that segment of the laundry ser-
vice to increasingly expand. Likewise, she
says hospitals are now relying on more spe-
cialty items such as hover mats and slings
that are used to help reposition patients.
These are not common textile items, but
PHSC is collaborating with manufacturers
and suppliers to ensure these textiles can also
be processed so that they are hygienically
clean, consistent with the quality require-
ments for a healthcare laundry service. Lark
says this work will also expand. For that mat-
ter, several of the local healthcare systems are
also expanding through the opening of new
hospitals or clinics, and PHSC has been de-
signed to meet the laundry processing needs
of these additions. “Our mission, and our
goal, is to maintain capacity for our owner
health systems, that’s really another aspect of
the collaborative nature of our organization.
Our intent was to focus on growing our ser-
vices as they grew,” says Lark.
PHSC services are now positioned for
further growth, but as this happens, Lark says
it will continue to embrace collaborations
that compel its constant improvement in op-
erational productivity, innovation, product
quality and environmental responsibility;
values that have helped Portland Hospital
Service Corporation become a model for
service in Oregon and the world at large.
