Hospitals are synonymous with cleanliness and now Loyola University Health System is the first academic medical center in Illinois to take disinfection to futuristic levels. Nicknamed “Ralph” by the housekeeping staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and “little Joe” at Loyola University Medical Center, 3-foot upright cylindrical robots provide the finishing touches to room sanitation. A rotating telescopic head emits cidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs dead.
“Loyola is a world leader in infection control and now the addition of automated room disinfection reinforces our ongoing commitment to patient safety,” says Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA, medical director, Infection Control Program, Loyola University Health System. “Loyola is doing everything humanly possible to control disease and that includes robotics.”
According
to studies, the disinfection robots eliminate Clostridium difficile (C.
diff) in less than 4 minutes and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
Aureus (MRSA) in less than 2 minutes.
“The robots are used for further
disinfection in the operating suites and patient rooms including
isolation, burn and transplant,” says Alex Tomich, DNP, RN, CIC,
manager, infection prevention and control at Loyola. “Loyola takes very
seriously its responsibility to protect patients, visitors and our
hospital staff from infections and we are early adopters of proven
technology as well as best practices.”
The hospital housekeeping
staff cleans the rooms and then uses the robots for additional
sterilization. The pulsed UV light destroys viruses, bacteria and
bacterial spores without human contact or use of chemicals.
Hospital
infections are linked to approximately 100,000 deaths each year and add
as much as $30 billion a year in medical costs, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Source: Newswise