Hospital Central Services, Inc. & Affiliates (HCSC)

For more information about HCSC call (800) 444-4272.

Corporate History

In July 1964, a group of prominent Lehigh Valley businessmen incorporated the Greater Lehigh Hospital and Health Planning Council. Goals of the Council included providing adequate hospital and related facilities in the Lehigh Valley area; to develop plans for providing improved patient care, education and research at these organizations; and to coordinate the development plans of the hospitals and related health facilities in the Lehigh Valley area, in order to avoid costly and uneconomic duplication of programs and services.

Hospital Central Services Corporation (HCSC) was incorporated in 1967, by the Greater Lehigh Hospital and Health Planning Council to meet the laundry and linen needs of non-profit tax-exempt hospitals in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley region. It's mission quickly evolved in scope.

  • HCSC-Laundry began operations in June 1970.
  • HCSC-Group Purchasing was incorporated in 1969 to provide centralized group purchasing services.
  • HCSC-Blood Center (Miller-Keystone Blood Center) was also incorporated in 1969 and began operation September 21, 1971.

Hospital Central Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1970, to promote education and provide oversight to the other HCSC affiliate organizations.

Then in 1992, the boards of HCSC-Laundry and HCSC-Group Purchasing (along with HCSC-Credit & Collections) decided to pursue a new cooperative structure by electing Subchapter T tax status, as a means of rewarding its customers. The name of this merged structure was Hospital Central Services Cooperative, Inc.

Laundry

The first HCSC-Laundry began operating in Allentown, PA, in June 1970. Ten founding hospitals signed 15-year contracts for service, securing the bank loan.

In November 1986, a second laundry plant was added in Greensburg, PA, approximately 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. In May 1989, a third laundry plant was added in Kingston, PA, just north of Wilkes-Barre. In November 1989, the former Mid-Atlantic Laundry Plant, Camden, NJ, was acquired, becoming our fourth plant.

A fifth laundry plant was added in April 1997, with the purchase of a former multi-hospital-owned laundry cooperative in Pittsburgh, PA. Between then and February 1998, the Greensburg plant was phased-out, and the linen was transferred to the larger Pittsburgh facility.

In December 1998, a fifth facility was added in Scranton, PA; and in September 2002, a sixth plant was purchased in Baltimore, MD. In July 2004, the former Keystone Laundry in Asbury Park, NJ, becomes the Laundry's newest processing plant. In February 2005, the Scranton, PA, plant was phased out.

As of February 2005, HCSC operates six plants in the following cities: Allentown, Kingston and Pittsburgh (PA), Camden and Asbury Park (NJ), and Baltimore (MD).

Group Purchasing

HCSC-Group Purchasing was incorporated in 1969 and began providing primary vendor contracts to all hospitals represented in the Council. The contract portfolio included medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, nutritional, laboratory and office products. Through June 30, 2000, HCSC-Group Purchasing has contracted for more than $2 billion of goods and services.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center

HCSC-Blood Center (Miller-Keystone Blood Center) began operation in September 1971. The Blood Center currently serves as the sole provider of blood products and services to seven Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties.

Hospital Central Services Cooperative, Inc.

In 1992, the boards of HCSC-Group Purchasing and HCSC-Laundry decided to pursue a new structure, by electing Subchapter T tax status, as a means of rewarding its customers. HCSC-Laundry and HCSC-Group Purchasing (along with HCSC-Credit & Collections) were merged into a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation under Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code. Operating as the Hospital Central Services Cooperative, Inc., this entity offers participating acute-care hospital members the opportunity to earn patronage dividends (paid in cash and scrip) and provides tax savings to the cooperative.