University HealthSystem Consortium Selects Sodexo to Provide Support Services

OAK BROOK, Ill., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) today announced that it has awarded a 3-year single-source agreement for support services to Sodexo, Inc., based in Gaithersburg, Md. The contract became effective on August 1, 2010, and includes two 1-year renewal periods.

Sodexo will provide UHC members with the following support services:

• Environmental services: Management of housekeeping services, staffing plans and training, environmentally friendly solutions
• Laundry management and linen services: Linen processing, rental, and distribution
• Patient transport: Patient admissions and discharges, patient transfers, patient pickups and returns, equipment delivery and return, stat item deliveries, and ad-hoc supply deliveries
• Service response center: Dispatch and tracking center for unscheduled services
• Plant operations: Monitoring and preventive maintenance of equipment (e.g., HVAC, fire protection, emergency power)
• Facilities management: Operational diagnostics, identification of problems, and recommendations for optimization of facility investments
• Facilities solutions: Operational assessment of energy usage, regulatory review for life safety, and financial spending

Sodexo is a leading provider of comprehensive management solutions to hospital patients, staff, and visitors. Under the agreement with UHC, the scope of services and areas of focus are customized based on the individual needs of each UHC member.

"We are excited about the innovative, customized solutions that Sodexo will provide to UHC members, meeting hospitals' expectations for patient and employee satisfaction and financial savings," said Jake Groenewold, UHC's senior vice president, Supply Chain.

"Sodexo is proud to partner with UHC as their single-source provider for support services. UHC members now have access to a wider range of industry-leading services that are customized to meet their individual needs, increasing the effectiveness of their people, enhancing their business processes, and optimizing their infrastructure," said Patrick Connolly, health care market president and chief operating officer for Sodexo.

About UHC

The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), formed in 1984, is an alliance of 107 academic medical centers and 233 of their affiliated hospitals, representing approximately 90% of the nation's nonprofit academic medical centers. UHC offers its members specific programs and services to improve clinical, operational, financial, and patient safety performance. The mission of UHC is to advance knowledge, foster collaboration, and promote change to help members succeed in their respective markets. For more information, visit www.uhc.edu.

About Sodexo

Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), the leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, delivers on-site service solutions in corporate, education, health care, government, and remote-site segments, as well as motivation solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $12 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

SOURCE University HealthSystem Consortium