The industry mourns the loss of Hugh Gilmore RLLD, long-time industry professional. He was 83.
Mr. Gilmore began his laundry career in 1957 at National Linen in Newport News, VA. He then went to work at Selmaier Peerless in Carbondale, IL prior to a position at Warrens Laundry in Fort Pierce, FL, then Soft Water Laundry in St. Petersburg, FL. He then spent a year in Furth, Germany for the DOD supporting laundry operations for US troops.
Mr. Gilmore served as a laundry manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was the Laundry Manager at VA Medical Centers in Tuscaloosa, AL; Palo Alto, CA; Battle Creek, MI; Bay Pines, FL; Biloxi, MS; Marion, IN; and Lexington, KY.
Mr. Gilmore is best known for his role as a member of the VA Field Laundry Advisory Group (FLAG). “As FLAG Chair at the time, I worked closely with Hugh. He was an educator and a leader respected by his employees at the many laundry facilities he managed,” says Ken Tyler, VP Government Operations, Encompass.
The FLAG group was responsible for the modernization of the VA Laundry System and was involved with the construction of over 70 new VA laundry facilities from 1977 to 1995, valued at over $225 million. Mr. Gilmore was directly involved with the group that developed the VA’s first ‘Barrier-Wall Concept’ laundry in Buffalo, NY in 1977. This cutting-edge concept became the world standard for the healthcare laundry industry. He also played a major role in concert with the group regarding product developments at the VA laundry in Battle Creek, MI, where he managed the first thermal fluid and ‘hands-off’ (fully automated) laundry in the VA.
Mr. Gilmore was an expert in infection protocol. He headed the VA Infection Protocol Department for 10 years developing standards to prevent the cross-contamination of clean linen by dirty linen coming entering the laundry facility.
Upon retirement from the VA Laundry System in 2000, Mr. Gilmore purchased and operated Resort Linen in Ft. Meyers, Florida. The facility serviced major resorts and restaurants in and near the Captiva Island, FL area.
In 2005, Mr. Gilmore joined forces with a group of industry professionals to create Laundry Consulting and Design, a company that was ultimately purchased by Water Energy Technologies, Inc. in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Gilmore remained an active part of the industry up until the time of his passing. He specialized in working with healthcare laundry facilities nationwide to prepare them for HLAC accreditation. Due to his thirst for knowledge, he recently became proficient with CAD software to compliment his laundry design work.
Mr. Gilmore was truly an industry icon. He contributed to lasting changes in the healthcare laundry industry and he will be missed by all that knew him.
