For people who work in the healthcare profession, a question of a uniform’s cleanliness can be a matter of life or death. It is not as simple as giving it a once over and looking for any stains like in automotive, food service, manufacturing industries. The sterility of healthcare wear and linens is one of the pillars of maintaining health in medical workers’ communities. However, reality shows the healthcare industry may still have room to improve.
Worrying Recent Studies?
A microbiological surveillance study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases in October 2018 reported over 10% linens were tested positive for the fungi Mucorales at 20% of the hospitals included in the study. “Microbiologic testing found linens contaminated with Mucorales upon arrival at 47% of hospitals. Further testing found that at 20% of hospitals the linens were not sanitized of Mucorales. This result was based on the failure to attain a >90% culture negativity threshold.”
And according to a study published in American Journal of Infection Control, the privacy curtains in hospitals “became progressively contaminated” with bacteria, and MSRA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) overtime. It is suggested hospitals should clean or replace the privacy curtains every two weeks, which hardly happens.
Guidance on Washing Process
On the bright side, there are, actually, guidelines from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) on the washing process for hospitals. Instructions cover from the collection of fabrics, laundering process, to functional packaging prior to transportations.
To reassure, the chances of infectious diseases outbreak associated with laundered healthcare textiles are extremely rare. However, “When they do happen, they can affect not only the lives and safety of patients and staff but a facility’s reputation and financial health,” said Gregory Gicewicz, president of Sterile Surgical Systems; past-president and inspection committee chair for Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC).
Certified Expertise
The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) is a nonprofit organization that inspects and accredits laundries that process reusable textiles for hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities. The state-of-the-art healthcare laundry facility at CLEAN’s St. Louis location is HLAC certified and was built especially for handling healthcare laundry as safely and as efficiently as possible.
CLEAN’s healthcare laundry solutions are certified to kill 99.9% of all bacteria. This includes potentially harmful bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and MRSA. Understanding that the easiest way to stop an infection before it starts is by eliminating the threat. With CLEAN’s HLAC-certified healthcare laundry facility, physicians and other medical professionals can rest assured that their uniforms will be cleaned to the specified EPA certifications.
For all your healthcare laundry needs, contact CLEAN today!