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F IE LD R E P O R T // S O LU TIO N S
E N V IR O N M E N T A L S E R V IC E S
Hospital uses robots to fight infection
iverside Medical Center is
known for its commitment
to patient care, and has
received many accolades
attesting to the organization’s capabilities.
The medical center is part of a fully
integrated health care system serving
patients throughout the Illinois counties
of Kankakee, Iroquois, Will, Grundy and
beyond.
Riverside Medical Center provides a
full scope of inpatient and outpatient
care and is a nationally recognized,
award-winning Level II trauma hospital
with nationally leading programs in
heart care, cancer care, neurosurgery and
orthopedics.
The 312-bed hospital is a nine-time
recipient of the Watson Health Top 100
Hospitals designation, has earned Magnet
status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition
Program and
is a Truven
Operational
Health 50 Top
improvement
Cardiovascular
Hospital.
F A C IL IT Y // Riverside
Medical Center
The medical
center’s numer­
N E E D // Automated
ous recognitions
disinfection system
are borne from
S O L U T IO N // Xenex
its commitment
LightStrike Germ-Zapping
to continuous
Robots
self-improve­
ment, and that
commitment isn’t limited to clinical care.
In fact, Riverside Medical Center boasts low
health care-associated infection rates and
recently has turned to advanced technology
to drive those numbers even lower.
As hospitals look for new and inno­
vative ways to battle deadly pathogens
and kill multidrug-resistant organisms
that can endanger patients and hospital
employees, Riverside Medical Center
invested in state-of-the-art room disin­
fection robots to stop superbugs in their
tracks.
The medical center chose Xenex’s
patented Full Spectrum, pulsed xenon
ultraviolet (UV) room-disinfection system
for many reasons, including its speed and
ease of use. Now considered part of the
hospital’s environmental standard of care,
IMAGE COURTESY OF RIVERSIDE MEDICAL CENTER
R
w w w .H F M m a g a z in e .c o m
the robots’ work is paying off.
The robots emit intense pulses of
Since deploying two Xenex LightStrike
xenon UV light to quickly disinfect rooms
Germ-Zapping Robots, Riverside has seen
by destroying the microscopic pathogens
27 percent reductions in Clostridium
that may have been missed during the
difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylo­
manual cleaning process.
coccus aureus and Vancomycin-resistant
Since deploying the two robots, River­
enterococci rates facilitywide, and a 65
side Medical Center has earned another
percent reduction in infection rates in its
accolade as a Xenex Visionary Hospital in
intensive care unit.
“The microorganisms
that cause infections
are getting smarter and
becoming antibiotic-re­
sistant, which is why we
need new weapons like
the LightStrike robot to
destroy them before they
pose a threat to patients
and our employees,” says
Martha Bouk, infection
preventionist at Riverside
Medical Center.
“Riverside already had
very low infection rates,
but our goal is zero infec­
tions,” she continues.
“I am proud that since
we implemented two
Xenex robots, we have
seen significant infec­
tion-rate reductions. Use
of the LightStrike system
enhances the hospital’s
already thorough pro­
cesses for cleaning rooms
and killing the pathogens
that cause infections. We
want to go above and
Riverside Medical Center has deployed two UV robots in its facility to
beyond for our patients,
help lower HAI rates.
and the two disinfection
robots are helping us take
cleanliness to the next level.”
recognition of its innovation and success
The LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots
in infection prevention and outstanding
can disinfect an entire patient room in 20
patient care.
minutes or less. Users can access com­
These Visionary Hospitals are recog­
prehensive reports from a cloud-based
nized for their efforts to make patient
system to track their use and ensure con­
safety a top priority; seek and imple­
sistent protocol.
ment technologies with multiple proven
Riverside’s environmental services
outcomes published in peer-reviewed
team uses the two portable robots, named
publications; follow manufacturer-rec­
Albert and Clean Victoria, to disinfect
ommended best practices; publicize and
more than 30 rooms per day in its inten­
share results to improve best practices for
sive care unit, pediatric floor, medical-sur­
all hospitals; and openly share their data
gical unit and operating rooms.
for public benefit, h f m
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
//
17
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