Case Study

Hospital Staff Satisfaction with Scrubs Dispensing Machine Solution by Polytex

Rehab hospital sees happier, less-stressed staff with Polytex Automated Workwear Management Solution.

Background

This rehabilitation hospital operates 12 departments with 365 beds, along with 20 clinics and institutes, and a total staff of approximately 600. Every day, the rehabilitation hospital deals with one ton of laundry, half of which is workwear. The hospital‘s in-house laundry room staff handles workwear distribution, requiring them to sort half a ton of clean garments every morning and simultaneously hand them out to waiting medical staff.

Top Five Achievements

With the Polytex solution, the hospital has achieved increased hospital staff satisfaction by reducing pressure on all staff members before and during each shift.

  1. Higher job satisfaction
  2. Less stress for laundry and medical staff
  3. Always-available uniforms
  4. Enhanced productivity
  5. Streamlined logistics

Customer Testimonials

We installed a Polytex solution for worker comfort and wellbeing. Now there are no long queues to get uniforms each shift, everyone’s job is easier, and satisfaction has correspondingly increased.

Logistics and Procurement Manager

Customer Needs

The Logistics and Procurement Manager wanted to simplify the daily process for them and ensure clean uniforms would be available on weekends and holidays. He was also concerned about the wellbeing of medical staff members, who had to arrive up to half an hour before their morning shift to get in line for clean clothing. The whole experience was time-consuming and frustrating for medical staff and stressful for laundry room workers.

Requirements

The hospital needed a solution that would improve workwear convenience for its medical team and make workwear distribution less hectic for the laundry room staff.

  • Reduce stress: Ultimately, the goal of the system was to benefit employees, and minimize the anxiety associated with the start of each shift.
  • Save time for medical staff: With staff members needing clean uniforms to start each shift, The hospital wanted to eliminate the long lines in the laundry room that forced people to come in early or be late starting work.
  • Increase laundry room productivity: Similarly, The hospital wanted to empower the laundry team with a simpler, less time-consuming workwear distribution process.
  • Ensure 24/7 availability: Clean uniforms had to be available in the right sizes, at the start of each shift – including during nights, weekends, and holidays, with the option to change uniforms mid- shift, if needed.

The Solution

In 2018, after seeing Polytex solutions in action at a nearby hospital, the rehabilitation hospital‘s management installed two Polytex D300 dispensing units and two return units. A third Polytex D200 Pro workwear dispensing unit was installed in 2021.

  • Streamlined procedures: Laundry workers fill up the scrubs dispensing units once or twice a day. Clean uniforms, in the right color and size, are always available to medical staff, in a matter of minutes. Medical staff no longer waste time before their shift lining up for workwear, and laundry room workers don’t have to sort through half a ton of uniforms in a high-stress rush.
  • Faster, more convenient distribution: Using a personal swipe card, staff take clean uniforms and return dirty ones from dedicated machines that operate 24/7. The process is dramatically faster and easier than the previous manual distribution system.
  • Customized solution: Based on the hospital‘s feedback post-installation, Polytex optimized certain functionality in the machines, provided staff training and optimized procedures to suit the hospital’s unique requirements.

Results

The Polytex automated uniform management system has significantly increased convenience and satisfaction for medical staff and made the laundry team’s job easier, more productive and less stressful.

Happier staff
Staff members no longer waste time waiting in line for uniforms. This relieves pressure on the laundry workers and enables them to work quicker and more efficiently.
24/7 workwear availability
The Polytex scrubs dispensing machines increased storage space, accommodating additional uniforms. Each worker now has several sets allocated to them in the system, and they can change clothes whenever needed. This includes during holidays and long weekends, and even mid-shift.
Simplified logistics
The Polytex automated garment management system helps with laundry logistics, simplifying uniform distribution and collection and minimizing manual labor. While this has not reduced the need for laundry personnel, which was not the goal, implementing these machines has staved off the need to hire more staff.
Increased productivity
Hospital staff save up to 30 minutes of their day, leaving them with more time and energy to devote to patient care. With a simplified workwear handling process, the laundry team is freed to handle other tasks.