Patients rarely think about the linens used in a hospital room or surgical suite. But behind the scenes, those materials play a vital role in infection control and patient safety.
For more than two decades, Westport Linen Services has quietly built a business around that reality, growing from two customers in 2000 into the largest privately held, locally owned healthcare laundry provider in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Today, the company serves hospitals, surgery centers, nursing homes and physician offices across a multi-state footprint stretching from Houston to Mobile.
“We’re 26 years in business, we’re local, and we employ nearly 500 people statewide,” says owner and CEO Eddie Lefeaux. “We’ve grown alongside the healthcare systems we serve.”
While many commercial laundry providers serve multiple industries—hospitals, hotels, restaurants—Westport has always focused exclusively on healthcare, a decision that shapes everything from its processes to its certifications.
“We don’t combine lodging or restaurant linens with healthcare items,” Lefeaux says.
That specialization allows Westport to maintain rigorous standards designed specifically for medical environments, including nationally recognized certifications for hygienic linen processing.
“All of our procedures and chemicals are focused on bloodborne pathogens and reducing HAIs for our clients,” Lefeaux explains. “We have to constantly adapt because mutating bacteria and viruses are constantly evolving.”
Westport’s growth reflects both the strength of the regional healthcare market and the increasing complexity of supporting it. The company now processes more than a million pounds of laundry each week across multiple facilities, including a 50,000-square-foot Baton Rouge operation.
That scale requires significant investment—not just in facilities and equipment, but in people and inventory. Westport replaces millions of dollars’ worth of linens annually to ensure quality and availability.
“We replace anywhere from $9 million to $12 million worth of linen each year,” Lefeaux says.
As the company grows, technology is playing an increasingly important role. One area of focus is improving accountability and infection control through automated scrub-dispensing systems.
“If you think of a vending machine, it dispenses scrubs and tracks when they’re returned,” Lefeaux says. “Scrubs are among the highest-loss items in the industry. What we’re trying to do is convince people not to bring those bugs and viruses home—next thing you know, you’re trying to wash them in a residential washer.”
The goal is twofold: reduce loss of high-value garments and prevent potentially contaminated items from leaving clinical environments. Westport is also implementing RFID tracking, embedding chips in garments to monitor usage and movement in real time.
“That technology, along with robotics, is really starting to take off,” Lefeaux says. “We are constantly reinvesting in the future.”
At its core, Westport’s business is about supporting the broader healthcare ecosystem—often in ways that go unnoticed. Hospitals depend on a steady, hygienically controlled linen supply not just for patient comfort, but for compliance, infection prevention, and operational continuity.
“We’re an absolute necessity,” Lefeaux says, “and an essential vendor for all of our customers.”
