Salem (OR) Hospital switches to inmate labor

Salem Hospital plans to switch to convict labor to clean its microfiber mop heads after scrapping its laundry contract with a private company. The job gradually will be turned over to inmates working at a commercial laundry at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, said Julie Howard, a spokeswoman for Salem Health. "We already contract with them to clean our bed linens and staff scrubs, and they are doing excellent work," she said. "We've been very happy with their attention to quality, the infection prevention that we require in a hospital." Concerns about the quality of mop-head cleaning provided by the hospital's private contractor, Aramark Uniform Services, prompted hospital officials to pull the plug on the arrangement, Howard said.