Germ Warfare- How Hospitals Battle Bugs
166 views · Published 18 January 2015 · 1:39 · Indexed 22 September 2026
Channel: Lee Health · 2015 · Science & Technology
A setting for healing, hospitals should be a model of good sanitary practices. But it’s not always easy. “Our primary goal is that every patient has a safe experience. So this is one area for infection prevention that we consider top-notch,” says Joanne Andrews, who is an infection preventionist with Lee Memorial Health System. Joanne Andrews is part of the infection prevention team at Lee Memorial Health System. In the same way we try to avoid spreading germs and seasonal bugs, health care settings have an uphill battle. “One of the initiatives that we’ve gone into in the last few years is looking at how we disinfect patient rooms,” says Andrews. Call it germ warfare; technology is taking the battle to a new field of combat - using a germ-killing robot which relies on UV light to disinfect rooms. “It looks like a robot; it’s a big machine with these UV lights inside. So you bring the machine in, set it up and set up your room. All of the equipment that’s in there can also be disinfected,” says Andrews. Then you leave the room, turn it on remotely and it does its thing. When the machine is finished, the room is cleared for use. “We’ve done a lot of cultures from specific sites in the room and we find that almost all of that bacteria is removed,” says Andrews. While it’s not practical for a robot to disinfect your home, there is one proven germ fighting technique you can adopt: hand washing. “When we are walking the floors we are seeing hand washing being done almost 100% of the time,” says Andrews. When it comes to battling bugs, the rule of thumb is to keep everything you touch- clean. View More Health Matters video segments at leememorial.org/healthmatters/ Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Visit leememorial.org
