Scottish Government ministers will decided the fate of scores of laundry workers in Dundee and Fife at the start of 2020.
NHS Scotland is currently reviewing the number of hospital laundries on mainland Scotland.
It currently has eight laundries and is examining halving the number it operates.
This means laundries could close at Ninewells Hospital and Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, which employ around 70 people between them.
NHS Scotland has a policy of no compulsory redundancies but it is not known if staff in laundries that are shut down will be transferred to another facility or be offered new roles within the NHS.
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “As part of the National Laundry Production Strategy NHS Tayside’s Laundry Service, like all other health board laundry services, is currently under review and a final draft business case is expected from NHS Scotland in early 2020.”
There are 30 workers employed in the Ninewells laundry while around 40 people work in the Kirkcaldy wash-house.
The Fife facility is regarded as one of the best performing in the country, producing more than seven million articles a year. Around £1 million was spent in 2013 replacing boilers and tumble driers to improve efficiency.
A spokesperson NHS National Services Scotland said: “The National Laundry Programme Board is conducting a thorough analysis of laundry production unit functions.
“The plan is to ensure the provision of a future laundry service for NHS Scotland that is efficient, effective and sustainable.”
Follow our special series at www.thecourier.co.uk/tay
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “Further cuts to NHS laundry services will be unacceptable.
“The Health Secretary should come clean over this move and say how many staff are facing redundancies and what she will do to respond to the risk of industrial action.
“Across Scotland we’ve seen hospitals running out of clean bed linen and towels too often, as staffing levels go down and health boards struggle to balance the books.”
The review into NHS Scotland laundry services began in 2017.
The Scottish Government has said a number of options will be considered before final one is presented to ministers.
Other laundries under review are at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, Borders General Hospital, St John’s Hospital in Livingston, the West of Scotland Laundry in Wishaw and Hillington Laundry in Glasgow.
