Healthcare delivery is more than just direct patient care, the “workhorse” environmental services department (EVS) provides cleaning and care of the hospital facility through as systematic approach that prevents the spread of disease, according to an article on The Marshall Democrat-News website.
Like hand hygiene, the proper cleaning of surfaces is key to infection control.
For instance, there are 23 EVS workers at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Mo.
They are responsible for cleaning 125,000 square feet of space including clinical and nonclinical areas,” Matthew Tonnar, EVS Manager at Fitzgibbon, said in the article. “We had a staff member who recently moved from the community. In the nine years she was here, she was responsible for cleaning 46,000 rooms and 8.3 million square feet.”
CRAB Alert: The EVS Role in Preventing Infection
Why Hospital Waiting Rooms Aren't Going Away
Ground Broken on Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Hospital
Design, Compartmentation, Training: How Defend-in-Place Strategies Can Protect Patients
Milestone Marked with Topping Out Ceremony for BayCare Hospital Manatee