Resilience and Support Across the Hospitality Industry

Our thoughts are with so many throughout the hospitality industry, who are facing unprecedented challenges, but are coming together to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Hotels Supporting Communities

Hilton and Marriott recently announced their plans to provide free hotel stays for healthcare professionals. Red Roof Inn launched a new giving program as well to support first responders and emergency services workers with complimentary hotel stays. And this recent article from Conde Nast Traveler highlights a number of properties that have mobilized to help support staff in need, as well as healthcare personnel in their communities.

Pineapple Hospitality, a long-time Standard Textile partner, has offered free room nights in Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City for first responders. Also, their team is delivering special signature pineapple cookies and “Dash Pups” plush toys to local hospitals (staff in the pediatric unit of UW Medical Center in Seattle shown above), fire stations, and police departments.

In a different collaborative effort between the City of San Francisco and many of our local hotel partners, thousands of rooms were made available by dozens of properties across the city. Thus far, the city has signed agreements with fourteen hotels—2 for first responders and 12 for sensitive populations —with more to follow.

The rapid response and focus on unity is truly inspiring.

One Standard: Mobilizing and Uniting

Standard Textile team members making face shields in our Union, South Carolina manufacturing center.

During this time of tumult in hospitality, our healthcare division has been racing to keep up with the historically high demand for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), such as surgical gowns, face masks and shields, precaution and cover gowns, scrubs and lab coats. In a crisis situation, it’s essential for all of us to come together and utilize our resources to support each other. Standard Textile’s hospitality team at our Corporate office and at our facility in Union, South Carolina have been working diligently to create facial protective shields for healthcare workers on the front lines.

Our company has pivoted swiftly and revamped our Brownsville, Texas facility to make face masks. A collaboration between Standard Textile’s research and development laboratory, and our operations in Thomaston, Georgia and Union, South Carolina, have resulted in the rapid development of a unique American version of a liquid resistant, breathable and reusable cover gown for healthcare workers.

Repurposing Hospitality Linens for Healthcare

Additionally, we are leveraging our technical expertise and custom manufacturing capabilities to repurpose some hospitality sheeting materials into greatly needed healthcare gowns. We have even been providing protective mattress encasements and pillow protectors, as well as other healthcare-specific textiles such as patient gowns and liquid-resistant hamper bags, to hotels that have found themselves temporarily converting to healthcare operations.

If your hotel is considering or being asked to consider temporary utilization of your property for healthcare purposes as a means of mitigating the strain on our hospital systems, we encourage you to reach out to us if we can be of service. We are all in this together.

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