6
The challenge: The renovation of the entire care home, including
the laundry which no longer met modern demands. The solu-
tion: A new-build on-premise laundry incorporating Miele's sustainable
concept for nursing homes. The results: An efficient laundry process
and pleasant working conditions enabling reliable processes and high
standards of quality and hygiene.
3
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2
THE BLOHERFELDE NURSING HOME IN GERMANY
BEING DIFFERENT
TO THE OTHERS
T
he Bloherfelde nursing home in
Oldenburg the north of Germany is
a very special place. This is obvious
the minute the historic building
comes into sight. Next to the entrance, an
engraved stone with the inscription 'Munici-
pal Workhouse for the Poor, Oldenburg 1884'
is set in the brickwork. Until the First World
War, it was a poorhouse, followed by a home
for waifs and strays and, later a retirement
home. Since 1974, it has been a care home
for the mentally handicapped. It is currently
home to 52 men and women aged between
22 and 80 who suffer from depression and
psychosis. Residents are taken care of by a
staff of 29, 365 days a year around the clock.
'There's no doubt we stand apart from other
homes. We celebrate, grieve and live with our
residents', says Hermann Dirks, care worker
with a diploma, who has been in charge of the
home for the past 13 years.
Some ve years ago, the idea was born to
modernise and refurbish the building which
THE IN-HOUSE
LAUNDRY
CONCEPT
PART 9
Introduced
On-premise laundry at
the Bloherfelde nursing
home in Oldenburg
PROconcept international // Case studies
7
The laundry process is perfectly
organised in the new premises: Mareike
Brüntje loads the 24 kg barrier machine
with soiled laundry (1). After drying,
clean laundry is either ironed (2) or
simply folded (3) and placed on the
shelves of a mobile rack.
was in need of renovation. Dirks and his
team put a lot of thought into their plans –
including the old laundry which at the time
was integrated into the living quarters. 'That
wasn't a future-proof solution. Installing
new machines in the old laundry would not
have made any sense. It would have been
neither modern nor sustainable', the home
manager explains. And there was another
challenge: The amount of laundry produced
by the residents had grown. So what was
to be done? Dirks travelled the length and
breadth of the country, visited third-party
service providers and on-premise laundries
in order to gather as much information as
possible. His summary: We can do things
better ourselves. Together with the operator,
the Oldenburg regional council, he decided
to build an on-premise laundry!
Sustainable philosophy
The next step was to contact Miele's sales
representative Dieter Hoffmann. A short time
later, he presented his rst draught plans:
The new laundry was to subscribe to Miele's
laundry concept for care homes – with three
cornerstones – from soft- and hardware to
laundry sacks and trolleys to training for
staff. 'When we rst inspected the plans, we
soon realised that Miele's sustainable and
holistic philosophy was akin to our own',
Dirks recounts. He was enthusiastic about
the plans. In the past, his experience with
Miele had been positive. The same can be
said, too, of the company running the home,
which uses commercial machines from Miele
Professional in its operations.
Construction work commenced in
2016. As early as May 2017, the expansive
new 160 m² laundry was commissioned.
In a new and separate building linked
via a ground-level corridor to the home,
wide-ranging measures were implemented
in order to facilitate good working condi-
tions: Air is circulated in the rooms with
a ceiling height of 3.20 m for a pleasant
micro-climate. Large windows let in ample
light and create an agreeable atmosphere.
CHECK LIST: BLOHER-
FELDE NURSING HOME
LAUNDRY
Types of laundry
R
Flatware (bed and table linen, laundry to
be ironed, etc.)
R
Towelling
R
Outerwear (residents' laundry)
R
Workwear
Transfer of washing from residential
blocks
to laundry
R
Yes
£
No
Is residents' personal laundry collected in
laundry sacks?
£
Yes
R
No
Separation of laundry by type
R
Flatwork and towelling
R
Residents' laundry/workwear
Acceptance scan of residents' laundry
£
Yes
R
No
Final scan of residents' laundry
R
Yes
£
No
Sorting of residents' laundry
R
Yes
£
No
Washed in
£
Front-loading washing machine with
protective screen
R
Barrier washing machine
in diaphragm wall
Heating type
£
Steam
R
Gas
R
Electricity
£
Solar
Specialised wash processes
£
e.g. WetCare (aqueous wash)
R
Miscellaneous: Mops and cleaning cloths
Are items ironed?
R
Yes
£
No
laundry team members
Two full-time employees and three
part-time staff work five days a
week from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.
05
34
rooms
The double and single rooms
are handicapped accessible,
barrier-free and fully furnished.
care places>
According to the attachment figure
model, each resident is cared for
by two carers.
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PROconcept international // Case studies