Wednesday, March 02, 2016

This Day In Clarkland...You Can Do A Lot Of Laundry In 20 Years.

Payin'ToBe
Playin'Ville


Looks like Ms. Clark has another event she can haul the entourage and, especially, the videographers to:

Hospital laundry services will be ending throughout the Interior Health region, leading to the loss of 93 full-time jobs over the next year.

A private, Kelowna-based facility will pick up much of the work, IH said in a press release Tuesday afternoon.

Millions of dollars are expected to be saved.

The Hospital Employees' Union called the decision deeply disappointing. The union maintains more than 100 jobs will actually be lost.

The 20-year agreement will see hospital laundry services contracted out to Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service Inc., a B.C.-based laundry service company that has provided laundry services to health-care providers at the Lower Mainland...



Twenty years?

Twenty freaking years?

Right out of the gate!?

Hmmmmm....

I think it's time to go look something up.


$127,940.

Bingo! 



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And if you do click on through, above, to have a look at the donations  made by 'Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service Inc.' to various and sundry BC Liberals over the years, see if you can spot the cookie dough.


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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

10 years used to be the norm.

Here in Penticton the Mayor and council are hell bent on cutting 20 & 30 year NO BID deals for the commercialization of pristine waterfront parkland.

North Van's Grumps said...

Seattle based Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service Corp.

http://ecotex-hls.com/our-history/

its okay for political funds to be kicked north of the 49th but not south, right?

Anonymous said...

I just had to check.... and yes Ecotex id a big financial supporter of the Liberals.... even a couple directly to DE JONG.
Who would of guessed ?

Guy in Victoria

Hugh said...

Based in Washington, not BC-based?

RossK said...

Thanks for the locator work folks...I just went with the 'Castanet' story.

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Anon-At-The-Top--

Thanks for the length of contract details..Is the change to 20 years widespread in gov't privatization contracts?

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Guy--

Cookie Dough!


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Paul Ramsey said...

@Guy, the government has signed a number of 10-year information technology deals over the past 10 years, which is borderline insane given the pace of change in the field. (Would a deal signed in 2006 include resources for mobile web technology? No, because the iPhone hadn't been invented yet, but that same deal would still be running today.)

20 years for laundry doesn't have the same in-built innovation problem (unless I misunderstand the clothes washing technology field) but it has crazy implications for getting good competitive bids. For something as commodified as doing laundry, why wouldn't we go out to bid every couple years, to keep a healthy competitive ecosystem around pushing prices down. If you award all the work to one company over huge time intervals, eventually there won't be any viable competitors around when the contract comes out to re-bid.

Lew said...

The contribution total is a bit larger if you include personal donations from people like Ecotex CEO Randy Bartsch and family. Just helping out with Christy's jobs plan for the laundry sector of course.

With her penchant for photo-ops (she was on the evening news tonight pulling up in an electric car to make an announcement about HOV access for same), I wonder why she didn't stand in front of a hospital to announce this contract? Could it be she's not exactly proud of it?

Speaking of her appearance on the news tonight, there was a beaming rep from the New Car Dealers' Association along to share her glee. Now there's a group that really knows how to contribute to her war chest! Neither of them were asked any embarrassing questions of course.

Anonymous said...

Whats with BC media reports of Ecotec being BC based ?
Almost all contacts are US on website.?
Area code 253 etc?

Chuckstraight said...

I think the bid that won the contract was 127,940.
Slimiest politics ever.
Are you reading this stuff Baldrey?
Maybe an article?

Anonymous said...

Menno Home workers in Abbotsford are also undergoing a new contractor and are worried about their jobs as well.

RossK said...

Thanks Anon-Above--

More coming.

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Lenin's Ghost said...

Hmmm......anyone have the info on buying a lifelabs franchise. ;-)

e.a.f. said...

That certainly isn't environmental, taking the lower mainland's dirty laundry to Kelowna and back. What happens in an emergency? No clean linens in Lower Mainland Hospitals.

As the decent paying jobs disappear, we can look forward to more child poverty, because just in case Christy doesn't get it, we have child poverty because the children's parents can't find jobs which pay a decent, living wage.

On Vancouver Island, the same tactics were used in cleaning for senior care facilities. Unionized staff laid off, new contractors at the lowest bid. At least 300 people lots living wage jobs, to be replaced by poverty level jobs. ah, isn't it nice to have a B.C. Lieberal government looking after things, for themselves.

The new P3 hospital in the Comox Valley: all maintenance and cleaning staff to be laid off. contracts to go to "bidder" (most likely the closest aligned to the B.C. Lieberals). there are complaints not even R.N.s and Doctors can get a straight answer as to whether they will have jobs in the new hospital. could the b.C. Lieberals and friends be mulling over having nurses and doctors contracted out to American corporations. Wonder if there are any donations to the B.C. Lieberals from those companies.

Hugh said...

CBC radio right now "laundry contract going to BC Liberal donor".

RossK said...

Hugh--

Well...

There you go.

Idiot Bloggers!


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