Jordan Valley Health gets into laundromat business

Washing, drying and folding items such as clothing, sheets and blankets are a daily occurrence for Jordan Valley Health after the health care provider purchased a Springfield laundromat last summer.

Jordan Valley Health is the owner of Kansas Square Laundry, 1711 W. Battlefield Road, Ste. V, as of Aug. 31, 2025. The health care organization bought the 2,000-square-foot venture located in a shopping center near the Battlefield Road and Kansas Expressway intersection from Rogersville-based Morningside Laundries LLC, officials say. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Dr. Matthew Stinson, Jordan Valley Health’s president and CEO, said Kansas Square Laundry is a business investment for Jordan Valley Health Foundation, the community arm of the health care provider. The foundation formed in 2017, according to its tax forms filed with the IRS, and hired Kristy Carter as its executive director in April of last year, according to past coverage.

“We’re not just seeking grants. We’re not just seeking donations,” Stinson said. “We’re also looking at business development opportunities for not only those that we serve but those who could give back to the community and give back to Jordan Valley.”

Carter said business development options were discussed during her job interview, and she and Jordan Valley officials agreed a laundromat was “a great idea.” She said the search to find a laundromat was a quick one, as the Kansas Square Laundry facility was identified by the time Carter started with Jordan Valley in April. The deal was done shortly thereafter, she said.

“We do Jordan Valley Health’s laundry, so we’re saving money by doing that and bringing that internally, but we are also open still to the community,” Carter said, noting 100% of its revenue goes to the foundation. “We have a wash, dry, fold service so people can drop off their laundry and pick it up. So, the people that are utilizing our services are giving back to Jordan Valley, and we’re able to educate them a little bit about Jordan Valley Health and the people that we serve and all of the areas that we’re in just by having a laundromat.

“It’s kind of turned into a fun way that we’re able to be in the community,” she added.

Noting that it’s a challenging economic environment for raising funds, Stinson said there was a desire by Jordan Valley to think about its foundation from a community investment perspective.

“Let’s make a concerted effort to really see how do we not just get donations from the community, but how do we get the community to invest in the work we do?” he said.

Jordan Valley officials declined to disclose startup costs and lease terms for Kansas Square Laundry. Carter said the laundromat is currently working with a handful of businesses, such as a couple of barbershops, a bakery and an Airbnb operator.

“It’s a variety right now that we work with, but we are planning to expand that,” Carter said, declining to identify its current business clients.

As Jordan Valley is amid investments for the new venture, Stinson said the break-even goal is on pace for early 2027. Recent investments at Kansas Square Laundry include a switch to contactless payments for the machines and acquisition of a van to make deliveries for clients, Carter said.

Officials declined to disclose the laundromat’s revenue.

“If we’re in there in 18 months with the money that we’re putting into it to make things more efficient, I think that’s the goal we set from the beginning,” Stinson said.

Jordan Valley Health, which rebranded at the start of the year from Jordan Valley Community Health Center, is the largest federally qualified health center in the state, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Stinson said the 2003-founded organization served 69,800 patients last year in southwest Missouri. It provides comprehensive services for underserved people, regardless of their ability to pay. Services are available with a sliding scale fee.

Foundation focus
Carter said the laundromat employs eight, including several who stayed on after the ownership change. They all are under the foundation’s purview, she said, as are three full-time employees who work at a longtime cafe inside Jordan Valley’s 440 E. Tampa St. clinic. The cafe is utilized by its employees, patients and community members, and aligns with the foundation’s mission, she said.

“It is something that we put money into,” Stinson said, declining to disclose cafe revenue. “People and other businesses come there and will utilize the cafe. As we were talking about things, thinking about community outreach that the foundation does, this was one of those areas that made sense to move into the foundation.”

Stinson said bringing on Carter, who was previously executive director of Ozark-based food pantry Least of These Inc., was an attraction for Jordan Valley as she had experience with fundraising and addressing community challenges.

“From the work that she had done at Least of These, she knows people in the community, and she knows the needs,” he said. “What made it the right time was that I would say as we look at funding streams, Jordan Valley has never been one who’s gone out to the community and asked for donations. We have never done a campaign.”

On a mission
The mission of Jordan Valley Health Foundation is to promote and support the health care provider, Carter said, adding that work includes removing barriers for patients and employees.

“We have a couple different funds that we are able to utilize,” she said, adding that one of them is an employee crisis fund that can help workers with unexpected expenses. “The hailstorm that happened a couple weeks ago, we had employees who needed to get their windshield repaired or their cars fixed.”

The foundation has distributed roughly $3,500 to seven employees thus far for hailstorm-related repairs, she said. That total will likely rise, she added.

“Basically, how can we fill those gaps to help remove barriers so that our employees can come to work and they can do what we need them to do, and that’s take care of our patients,” Carter said, noting that an employee payroll deduction is offered to those who wish to give to the foundation.

The foundation in 2024 reported over $45,000 in revenue and net assets of roughly $198,000, according to its most recent nonprofit tax form on file with the IRS. Stinson said rebranding and relaunching the foundation, which formerly was Jordan Valley Family Health Foundation, was discussed around the same time the health care provider decided on its name change. A shorter name for both was preferred, he said.

Carter said she’s planning to soon launch a $1 million campaign for Jordan Valley’s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, which provides comprehensive healthcare, social, recreational and wellness services to participants. Outside of any capital campaigns, a financial goal for the foundation of $500,000 in donor contributions over the next year “would be a very good place that I would feel comfortable for us to be,” she said, adding the laundromat should be a supplement to annual donations it receives. Carter estimates the laundromat should generate around $250,000 in revenue for fiscal 2026.

Despite challenges in running a laundromat for the first time, Carter said Jordan Valley is optimistic about its future.

“We’re almost over that hump of our one year of just learning about it all and making it into what we want it to be,” she said. “I think that we have no place to go but up.”