Healthcare Purchasing News Magazine Features Prime Medical
EVS success is no guess ~ Inclusion and cooperation are key
The core mission of nearly every healthcare facility tends to be similar: Provide the best patient care experience as possible at the best cost possible. Delivering the best patient care also includes implementing a strong patient safety component, but the way Hospital A achieves this goal compared to Hospital B may not be so similar.
The following excerpt appeared in Healthcare Purchasing News
Most patient safety initiatives include a solid infection prevention (IP) connection that requires steady engagement of and cooperation from several departments, including Environmental Services (EVS), which is indispensable to the effort because of the important role it plays in virtually every area it touches.
Whether it be inside the patient room, the surgical suite, the emergency department, intensive care unit, or any other place under a hospital’s roof, EVS professionals have the critical job of making the entire healthcare space as clean and pathogen-free as possible.
Although some facilities may miss the mark in making this connection strong and clear within its workplace culture, many more have hit the bullseye by giving their EVS department the support, education and tools it needs to complete its work, along with some much-deserved recognition for jobs well done.
Spotless surfaces, spotless uniforms For those who work with bleach every day, keeping uniforms spot-free can be a challenge if not impossible. According to Antonio Glenn, Associate Director of Environmental Services at Pennsylvania Hospital, his ES team prefers using bleach-based products to clean and disinfect rooms in nearly every unit in the hospital but doing so was causing their traditional scrubs to become discolored with bleach stains. “At Pennsylvania Hospital, we’re all about our image,” said Glenn, “so it was a real problem to have bleach-stained uniforms. The ‘tie-dyed’ scrubs looked horrible and it was becoming a financial burden on our employees who had to purchase replacement scrubs. I asked our Shared Governors team, an elected group of employees who research new products and solutions, to find a uniform that could stand up to the rigors of cleaning with bleach and they found Prime Medical’s unique line of bleach-friendly scrubs.”
“Bleach Safe Scrubs by Prime Medical make it possible for EVS teams to clean confidently with bleach-based products without the fear of ruined uniforms and the added expense of replacement,” said Wendy Brady, Vice President, Marketing, Prime Medical.
“The scrubs’ bleach-friendly fabric is powerfully fade-resistant, even from contact with bleach-based products, and are also designed to be laundered regularly with bleach,” Brady said.
“Before we switched to the bleach-friendly scrubs, my staff was purchasing 12 to 13 sets per person each year. Now, they are well-equipped with 6 to 8 sets per year,” said Glenn. “The Bleach Safe Scrubs cost a little more than the brand we were using before, but my team is happier with the overall value, durability, fit and performance of the Bleach Safe uniforms. And because my ES team cleans and disinfects nearly every space in our hospital with bleach products, they are working ‘worry-free’ without the fear of ruining their uniforms.”