VPRS 19289 Records of the Central Linen Service and Group Laundry

The series comprises records relation to the founding and administration of the Central Linen Service and Group Laundry. Included are records relating to the establishment and construction of the linen service and laundry, as well as its operation, procedures, and committee minutes. The group laundry provided laundry services for numerous hospitals throughout Victoria and was an early example of the rationalisation of services between institutions. It was run by the Royal Melbourne Hospital as a not-for-profit service. Construction of the linen service and laundry commenced July 1949 and opened 1 September 1953. At its opening, it serviced four hospitals. By 1956 it served 26 institutions, including the 1956 Olympic Games village, and by 1970 it served 79 institutions. Monetary constrains, aging equipment, space constraints and the Victoria Government policy of decentralisation and privatisation of services saw the closure of the service in 1992.