If it were cheaper for you to send out your dirty laundry to get cleaned, folded and put back in your closet, than to do it yourself, wouldn’t you jump at that opportunity?

Fortunately, a body set-up by local health regions has done just that.

3sHealth has brokered a new partnership between health regions in Saskatchewan and K-Bro, a laundry company from Alberta. Over the next ten years, the partnership is expected to save taxpayers a whopping $93 million.

Instead of the government building several new laundry facilities around Saskatchewan, K-Bro will centralize the cleaning of hospital bed sheets at a facility in Regina and then send it out to distribution centres in other parts of the province.

Through this centralization, and more efficient operations, the firm will save taxpayers millions rather than having each health region continuing to do its own thing.

At the same time, the firm will have to meet rigorous quality standards set out by the government. Thus, if you’re a taxpayer or a patient standing back and watching the partnership unfold, you’re going to see the same level of service (or better) at a lower cost; a win-win!

Even better, if a flood or fire wreaks havoc on Saskatchewan like one did recently in Alberta, the K-Bro company will use its facilities outside the province to help ensure the bed sheets in Saskatchewan hospitals still get cleaned.

This is exactly the type of partnership that the government should do more often.

If you think about it, it’s something most taxpayers do almost everyday; you shop around for the best service.

Prior to hiring a business to do the laundry service, government-funded hospitals did the work themselves for decades. That would be like you shopping at the same store for decades and never wondering if you could buy products for a lower price at a competitor. Doesn’t make much sense.

But not everyone is happy about the new deal. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour is upset because a more efficient laundry service run by K-Bro could mean fewer workers are needed and the ones that are needed may be a paid a lower, more competitive salary.

These differences can be chalked up to the old problem with government unions; their contracts are ultimately under the watchful eye of politicians. And we all know politicians are often too scared to deal with unions going on strike or the possibility of losing their votes during election. That’s why government employees often see richer contracts than those doing similar work for businesses.

Conversely, unionized employees working for private businesses know they can’t demand too much or go on strike too frequently or they’ll risk losing their jobs by driving their employer out of business.

Perhaps what’s most important is to encourage the government to pursue more partnerships like this. For example, it could start looking at hospital cafeterias. Back in 2012, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a donation-based taxpayers watchdog organization, noted that three hospital cafeterias in Saskatoon had lost $1.2 million over the past two years.

No one would expect cafeterias to be big money makers for hospitals, but perhaps a partnership could turn those losses into a break-even situation?

One thing is for certain, we need to encourage the government to keep sniffing around for more savings. It’s just plain healthy for your wallet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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