A creative collaboration between Shared Health Manitoba and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is turning surplus linen into new hope for communities in need.
While switching to a smaller warehouse, Director for Regional Healthcare Linen Services for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Patrick Sabourin, says they were tasked with significantly reducing their overall footprint.
“We identified a substantial volume of surplus, and it consisted largely of COVID-related purchases and legacy inventory from our consolidation with the Selkirk laundry facility,” said Sabourin.” So, that consisted of scrubs, gowns, blankets and bedspreads. Given the large volume and tight timeline, our goal was to find ways to mitigate the risk of it ending up in the landfill.”
Sabourin reached out to Lea Coté, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator at Shared Health. Together, they connected with Hope and Healing International, a Canadian Christian nonprofit focused on children caught in the cycle of poverty and disability.
“I was excited. A little panicked with the timeline, but I took the challenge and went with it,” said Cote. “It was a perfect fit for them. We were able to arrange a collection and shipment within two weeks from Winnipeg to Toronto, and then to Africa. It was a challenge, but very rewarding.”
“It was like Tetris with linen. We had to carefully pack pallets to ensure everything arrived safely, but the result is worth it,” said Sabourin.
In total, more than 16 tonnes of linen or 67,000 pieces of linen were shipped to Cameroon.
“I’m really excited for more collaboration like this,” said Coté. “We were able to see a huge impact just from this one project, where the materials are being reused by others in need, but we’re also reducing the amount of materials ending up in the landfill.”
Coté says they hope that a project like this continues to send a message in Manitoba that we don’t have to send everything to the landfill.
“There are other options, and they can have big positive benefits,” said Coté. “We’re really excited about this collaboration, and we hope to reach and work with more departments like this. We’re grateful to Patrick for starting this process with us.”
Sabourin is encouraging other organizations to step up and do something similar.
“Don’t be afraid to ask,” said Sabourin. “It’d be easy to just be discouraged and say, if we had more time, but just ask about it, and the worst that could happen is you’ll get a no. But at least you’re putting yourself out there, and you’re looking for another solution. And that’s when it starts really to get the ball rolling.”
Anyone interested in getting involved or collaborating similarly is encouraged to reach out to the Environmental Sustainability and Energy Department at Shared Health or the Linen Services department with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
-With files from Angela Peacock
