Laundry Service, UIHC's Materials Management, and Standard Textile Corporation
recently inventoried all of the hospital's linens, providing plenty of
interesting tidbits for us to pass along. Here are some of them, using the data
for just three of approximately fifty different linen items the hospital uses.
The Laundry processed 1.09 million towels last year for UIHC. If you laid the
towels end to end, they would reach from Iowa City to Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Laundry processed enough flat sheets to cover all of Kinnick
Stadium---240 layers deep.
If you took each washcloth processed by the Laundry and stacked one on top of
another, the stack would measure more than 4,000 feet high (and require one very
tall ladder!).
Dave Gray, Laundry Service manager, asked Mike Breedlove of Standard Textile
to translate the inventory numbers into visual descriptions for our staff to
enjoy. The results give a unique perspective to quantifying linens and to the
tremendous job the Laundry staff performs each year for UIHC.
Jo Anne Worley
Character Counts: Meet Janet Dautremont Janet Dautremont
celebrated her twenty-fifth year as a University employee last August. She
started as a laundry press operator in May 1976. That's when she came to the
Laundry through a trial placement program offered by Goodwill Industries, her
employer at the time. By the following August, Jani knew she wanted to continue
working at the Laundry and became a full-time University employee.
During her first day on the job, the supervisor showed Jani a small mountain
of blankets and asked if she knew how to fold. "I guess so," she replied--and
has been folding clean laundry ever since.
There have been few changes in the job over the years, Jani says.
Hand-operated presses that were used to iron garments were replaced with a steam
conveyor, which steams and shakes garments on their hangers as they pass through
a steam tunnel. And those blankets are now folded by machine, but mostly the job
is the same.
Jani lives in Riverside with her mother. Both are non-drivers, so she really
appreciates the convenience of UI vanpooling. But she confesses to having a
serious case of wanderlust, because she loves to travel and take photos of her
journeys. On average, Jani and her mom take two tours a year. Her supportive
brother and his wife play chauffer when they need transportation to and from the
airport or bus station.
The only states they haven't visited are Hawaii and Alaska, and Jani would
really like to see Hawaii. Although she has toured most of the United States,
her favorite place to visit is nearby, in Branson, Missouri. "I just love
country music. Clint Black and Alan Jackson are my two favorite country
singers," Jani says.
Her other loves are reading mysteries, doing word-search puzzles, and tuning
in to Hawkeye sports on television or radio. Her next adventure will take her to
Texas. If you're there, you may even spot her strolling down the River Walk in
San Antonio, cheering the Hawks along while listening to them on her radio!
Jo Anne Worley
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