The Growth of an Industry: Environmental Services

A Q&A with Tom Racobaldo, President, Crothall Healthcare

Compass One Healthcare is the union of two premier healthcare support service specialists – Morrison Healthcare food and nutrition services and Crothall Healthcare support services. Tom Racobaldo discusses how the two companies work together to provide the best client service and patient care in the industry.

How long haveyouworked with Crothall and in our industry?

I’ve been with Crothall for 26 years, but my first job in the industry was 40 years ago right out of school. I was a management trainee for the company founded by the original Crothall family from New Zealand, so I learned the business from the ground up. The job was similar to the Management in Training (MIT) program, though we execute the program better today.

You’ve seen a lot of changes over those decades. Talk about Crothall’s history and its long ties with Morrison.

I’m sure a lot of people aren’t aware that our two companies formed a joint venture 27 years ago called Morrison-Crothall. It was a good combination. Morrison had a client base of more than 200 hospitals and Crothall had a large amount of technical and management expertise. The joint venture eventually dissolved, but the two companies were reunited as part of Compass One Healthcare in 2015.

Discuss the recent success of this combination.

Both companies have done well, historically, as separate organizations. But we also needed to overcome a large challenge: there was a perception in the marketplace that sometimes we were not seen as one company, especially when we made a presentation to a potential new client. By coming together under Compass One Healthcare, we’ve changed that perception and as a result, we’ve been able to generate a lot of new business.

Has combining both companies under Compass One Healthcare meant a more cohesive organization for our operators in the field?

Yes. Under Compass One, we have the best of both worlds. We have two unique companies that specialize in different services for hospitals. But Compass provides an umbrella of functions that otherwise each company would need to create. These functions include human resources, training, safety and the patient experience. It helps standardize those functions and, more important, it’s helped create one culture for all of us.

What does the Compass One umbrella mean for clients?

Our clients’ needs always come first, so they have plenty of options when working with us. Some hospitals want a single point of contact for both companies while others want to work with someone at Morrison and someone else at Crothall. We’ll continue to be flexible to meet the needs of each individual hospital.

How is the healthcare marketplace changing and how are we reacting?

Hospitals are finding ways to better serve local communities while lowering their costs. As a result, some healthcare services are now delivered in different ways – at medical office buildings and through urgent care centers and other outpatient facilities. There’s clearly a trend to deliver fewer services away from the core hospital when it can reach patients in their community for less cost.

How are we changing to meet these needs?

Five years ago, Compass One Healthcare CEO Bobby Kutteh saw these new facilities as an emerging market and a new model for healthcare. We’re studying this new model to determine how to better serve our clients. One option is to provide a turnkey service to meet the needs of this new model.

How does our company change to meet the evolving needs of the marketplace?

One constant in the healthcare business is that it’s always changing, and healthcare will continue to evolve. Our clients want – and deserve – the best value they can get. So, we have to find ways to meet their needs. But our foundation is in place — by providing the best service with the best people, we will do well.