Published: June 19, 2020
Norton Children’s Hospital environmental services crews disinfect each patient room daily and perform a deep clean after each patient leaves the hospital.
The strict regimen between patients includes disinfecting furniture and surfaces such as bedrails, bedside table and over-bed table. The bed is cleaned top to bottom, and a five-step procedure is used to disinfect the bathroom.
Before the next patient, rooms are inspected after cleaning, and germ-detecting adenosine triphosphate (ATP) tests are conducted randomly based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
In addition to performing daily cleanings, Norton Children’s Hospital environmental services crews take the following steps to clean a room after a patient is discharged.
“The environmental services team knows how important its work is and takes great pride in it. We get to know the patients and their families, and our job is to protect them. We take that very seriously,” said Chad Morris, director of environmental services at Norton Children’s Hospital.
After a COVID-19 patient is discharged, the room gets a final dose of disinfectant with UV-C light. The ultraviolet light bathes patient rooms and other areas with strong doses of bacteria- and virus-killing energy. The light could burn skin and damage eyes, so is used in rooms only after staff and patients have left the area and the door is closed.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Norton Children’s Hospital has acquired electrostatic fogging equipment for disinfecting hard-to-reach areas. Electrostatic disinfecting technology adds a positive charge to particles in the spray. As a result, the positively charged particles seek out negatively charged particles, spreading the disinfectant under objects, behind them and into crevices.
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Norton Children’s Hospital uses Virex Plus, a disinfectant rated by the Environmental Protection Agency to kill the coronavirus as well as other viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Hospital-grade disinfectants can kill germs faster than supermarket wipes. Plus, our providers have the supplies they need on hand to carry out the cleanings between patients. Inventories of cleaning supplies as well as personal protective equipment are monitored daily.
COVID-19 patients and those suspected of having the virus are treated in separate areas.