Nominations for HLAC Board of Directors to Open Oct. 1

The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) will begin accepting nominations on Oct. 1, 2009 for its board of directors. Per the HLAC bylaws, each year four positions are elected or re-elected to the board of directors. Board seats are categorized into four classes:

Class 1 represents the commercial healthcare operator.

Class 1 Incumbent:  Rick Kislia, COO, Crescent Laundry, Davenport, IA

Term: 2010-2012                       

Class 2* represents industry associations interested in the processing of healthcare textiles such as ALM, ARTA, TRSA, APIC and others.

Class 2 Incumbent: Nancy Bjerke, BSN, RN, MPH, CIC, chair, Practice Guidance Council, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC)

Term: 2010-2012                                               

*HLAC has a vacant Class 2 board position with no incumbent. This board term runs through Dec. 31, 2010. HLAC will consider qualified nominations to fill this position.

Class 3 represents in-house or cooperative laundries.

Class 3 Incumbent: No incumbent, open seat.

Term: 2010-2012                       

Class 4 represents the government or users of healthcare textiles.

Class 4 Incumbent: Sandra Hensley, RN, MSEM, BSN, CIC, infection control practitioner, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio

Term: 2010-2012                                                                       

Industry professionals who are interested and meet the qualifications are encouraged to fill out and submit the nominee packet, which can be downloaded from www.hlacnet.org. Submissions must be received no later than noon on Oct. 23, 2009.  All eligibility and nominations questions may be answered by contacting Kathy Tinker, HLAC executive director, at (708) 790-1749 or kathytinker@sbcglobal.net.

Founded in 2005, HLAC is an independent council that has developed a comprehensive set of standards for healthcare textile processing. It is the only organization that exclusively inspects and accredits laundries that process healthcare textiles.