washington business
Lint Gets in Your Blood
The second generation at Northwest Health Care Linen, a sister-and-brother team who won AWB’ s family business of the year, bring their own skills and talents to the table.
Joan Pringle
Northwest Health Care Linen, founded in 1992 by James and Jill Hall in Bellingham, supplies patient gowns, hospital blankets and other medical linens to facilities across the Puget Sound— providing an essential service to the region’ s health care system.
At A Glance
Northwest Health Care Linen is a second-generation family-owned business based in Bellingham.
The company rents medical linens and apparel to more than 550 individual medical facilities— 18 hospitals and numerous clinics— throughout the Puget Sound region.
Their laundry facility in Bellingham cleans and distributes up to 80,000 pounds of textiles daily.
Northwest Health Care Linen was the 2025 winner of AWB’ s Excellence in Washington Family- Owned Business Award.
Evan Hall and Kelsey Van Miert are the brother-and-sister second-generation team running Northwest Health Care Linen, a company founded by their parents in Bellingham.
Kelsey Van Miert did not plan to work at Northwest Health Care Linen.
Her father, James“ Jim” Hall, who started the business in Bellingham with his wife, Jill, in 1992 was adamant that it being a family business didn’ t mean that she and her brother, Evan, would get to just come in, she said. They had to make their way in the world first.
Van Miert studied business administration at Gonzaga University and spent 10 years away. When she came home, she started going to laundry conferences and on company routes to see what she was interested in. She was drawn to customer service and still serves in that capacity today. nwlinen. com winter 2026 45