The facility must provide laundry and linen services on the premises, or by contract with a commercial laundry. If laundry services are provided on-site, the facility must ensure that laundry facilities, equipment, handling and processes provide residents with linen and laundered items that are clean, in good repair and adequate to meet the needs of residents. The facility:

(1) Must handle, clean, and store linen according to acceptable methods of infection control, and:

(a) Ensure all staff wear appropriate personal protective equipment and use appropriate infection control practices when handling laundry;

(b) Ensure that damp textiles or fabrics are not left in machines for longer than twelve hours;

(c) Ensure that gross soil is removed before washing and proper washing and drying procedures are used; and

(d) Ensure that contaminated textiles and fabrics are handled with minimum agitation to avoid contamination of air, surfaces and persons.

(2) Must equip the laundry area with:

(a) A utility sink;

(b) A table or counter for folding clean laundry;

(c) At least one washing machine and one clothes dryer; and

(d) Mechanical ventilation to the exterior.

(3) Must use and maintain laundry equipment according to manufacturer's instructions.

(4) Must use washing machines that have a continuous supply of hot water with a temperature of one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit, or that automatically dispense a chemical sanitizer and detergent or wash additives as specified by the manufacturer, whenever the licensee washes:

(a) Enhanced services facility laundry;

(b) Enhanced services facility laundry combined with residents' laundry into a single load; or

(c) More than one resident's laundry combined into a single load.

(5) May allow residents to wash their individual personal laundry, separate from other laundry, at temperatures below one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit provided chemicals suitable for low temperature washing at proper use concentration and according to the cleaning instructions of the textile, fabric or clothing.

(6) Must ventilate laundry rooms and areas to the exterior including areas or rooms where soiled laundry is held for processing by offsite commercial laundry services.

(7) Must locate laundry equipment in rooms other than those used for open food storage, food preparation or food service.