UPMC Signs Laundry Deal With Sodexho And Protects 175 Pittsburgh Jobs
PITTSBURGH, April 18, 2006 — In an agreement that will protect 175 jobs in Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has contracted with Sodexho, Inc., to clean 19 million pounds of linens annually at a facility in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The agreement, signed March 31, ensures that the plant will stay open.
UPMC’s former laundry supplier, Hospital Central Services Cooperative Inc. (HCSC), decided to sell the facility at 304 Jumonville St., potentially threatening the jobs there. UPMC insisted that any new vendor continue to perform the work in Pittsburgh to support the community and to ensure timely linen service for its patients. That prompted the sale of the plant, operating since the late 1960s, to Buffalo, NY- based Centerstone Development, which is leasing the building to Sodexho of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“We are pleased to continue our laundry business with the fine work force that HCSC has built in Pittsburgh,” said UPMC Chief Financial Officer Robert DeMichiei. “This decision is good for the community, good for Sodexho and good for UPMC.”
Sodexho intends to build on this foothold to grow its laundry business in the western Pennsylvania region. At maximum capacity, the Pittsburgh plant could support another 50 jobs. “The chance to be a vital part of the patient care at UPMC is an exciting opportunity for Sodexho,” said George Chavel, health care market president for Sodexho. “We are a global company, but the Pittsburgh area is where I call home, so being able to get involved in this project and keeping these jobs in Pittsburgh is extra special.”
As the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States, Sodexho hopes to use its greater purchasing power and other efficiencies to improve the Pittsburgh plant’s competitiveness. The company has annual revenues of $6.3 billion and more than 120,000 employees in North America.