healthcare textiles & laundry
healthcare textiles & laundry
By Gregory Gicewicz
The Future of Healthcare Laundry Technology: Automation and Local Jobs Can Grow Together
Automation rarely eliminates labor. Instead, it redirects it, transforms it, and, when implemented thoughtfully, makes existing labor more efficient and productive.
The future of healthcare laundry will not be fewer jobs. It will be better jobs.”
Every few years, the laundry industry gathers at The Clean Show to showcase the latest equipment, ideas, and innovations shaping our field. Walking through the booths this year, one theme stood out: automation. From robotic soil sorters to advanced folding systems, nearly every major manufacturer was promoting technologies designed to reduce manual labor. For some, this raises the fear that if machines can do the work, what happens to the people?
Recently, my colleague TJ Peterson shared a terrific write-up of his observations from the TRSA Innovations session at the recent Clean Show. Coming from the maintenance side of our industry, TJ highlighted the cutting-edge systems that manufacturers are bringing to market. His excitement for what these technologies can do was contagious, and his perspective on their impact on maintenance teams was spot-on. Reading his piece reminded me how important it is for operators like me to share a complementary perspective: what does all this mean for people inside our plants and the communities we serve?
Because here’ s what I’ ve seen: automation rarely eliminates labor. Instead, it redirects it, transforms it, and, when implemented thoughtfully, makes existing labor more efficient and productive. The future of healthcare laundry will not be fewer jobs. It will be better jobs.
The Myth of Job Elimination
We’ ve heard the story before: automation comes in, jobs disappear. But history tells a different story in our industry. The introduction of the tunnel washer decades ago was supposed to decimate the workforce. Instead, it redefined it. Workers moved from hand-loading washers to managing tunnel operations, monitoring quality, and focusing on distribution. Automated rail systems were another supposed job-killer. Yet they created new roles in logistics, maintenance, and IT oversight that never existed before.
The same pattern is emerging today. Robotic feeders and camera-based sorters don’ t mean fewer people in the plant. They mean people shift from repetitive, injury-prone work to higher-value activities like managing production flow, solving quality issues, working directly with hospitals on linen distribution, and supporting infection prevention. Automation raises the baseline of what one person can accomplish in a shift, but it doesn’ t eliminate the need for people.
At Fillmore Linen, we opened our doors in 2024 with a dual mission: to provide healthcare facilities with the highest-quality, infection-prevention-focused linen service and to create local good jobs in one of Chicago’ s most underserved communities. From day one, people have asked us: if you keep investing in new technology, won’ t you undermine your goal of job creation?
The answer is no. In fact, automation is essential to making our jobs sustainable and meaningful. Our team of 85 employees processes 8 million pounds of linen annually, with capacity for much more. That kind of throughput is only possible with modern technology. Automated folding lines, advanced dryers, rail systems, and monitoring software don’ t reduce the need for people. They free our team members from dangerous or exhausting manual tasks and let them focus on ensuring quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
We also find that technology investment attracts talent. When people see a modern, well-equipped facility, they recognize they’ re stepping into a workplace that values their time and safety. Automation helps us recruit, train, and retain staff in an industry that has traditionally struggled with turnover.
Efficiency Creates Opportunity
Here’ s the paradox: automation that increases efficiency often expands employment, rather than contracting it. When a plant doubles its capacity without doubling its footprint or cost, it can serve more hospitals, win more contracts, and grow faster. Growth means more linen processed, more distribution routes, more customer service staff, and more supervisors.
Healthcare is not shrinking, it’ s growing. Hospitals and health systems need reliable partners to handle linen with infection-prevention precision. By embracing automation, healthcare laundries can meet this demand at scale while also improving worker conditions. The result? A larger, more skilled workforce in plants that are safer and more productive than ever.
Building a Workforce for the Future
There’ s another reason automation doesn’ t erase jobs: machines still need people. Every robotic sorter requires maintenance. Every automated system needs monitoring. Every software platform requires data interpretation. These are not the low-skill, repetitive jobs of the past. They are skilled roles that pay more, offer more stability, and give workers a career path.
That’ s why we invest not only in equipment but also in training. At Fillmore, we are developing programs to teach supervisors how to manage both people and technology. We are training operators not just to push buttons but to understand system
22 • www. healthcarehygienemagazine. com • sept-oct 2025